Dreams Do Come True
by Jexena
Summary: Post New Moon. Bella finally decides that she will marry Edward. Now find out their true feelings about why they have done all the things that seemed to keep them from achieving their true desires. ExB , Graduation, Wedding, Transformation, Freedom
1. Ch 1: Pillow Talk

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter One:**

**Pillow Talk**

"Edward."

"Yes Bella."

I looked up at him, I hated breaking the silence, it was Sunday afternoon, and the sun was pouring in my window, sending rainbow reflections all over my room. I loved how the light reflected off of Edward's exquisite chest. Charlie was off fishing with Seth today. It made him feel good to be able to carry on the tradition, even if it wasn't with his own son; at least he was helping out a friend.

Edward and I just lay in my bed. He was stroking my hair, and I was drawing patterns across his chest. God he is gorgeous, I still marvel at the fact that he is mine; but I now know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he will be forever.

"What are you going to do if we get into different colleges?" I still didn't really care about college. But I did think about it after a while. The Cullen's had been to high school and college many times. When I joined the family, God I loved that thought, I would have to blend as seamlessly as possible. And that meant going to college.

"Silly Bella," he leaned over and kissed my hair. "I will go to whatever college you go to."

"But after having gone to Harvard, how can you just go to some crappy community college, which is all my grades are good for."

"Well, first of all, I don't care where we go, as long as we are together." My heart skipped a beat. "And, secondly, this is only your first time through. We weren't geniuses at first either. Don't worry, after a century, you will know the entire curriculum by heart too."

He laughed softly as I wrinkled my nose at the prospect. A hundred years in school, and I used to think that a dozen years was too long. But, at least I would have Edward by my side.

"So what do you plan on studying?" He asked me once his beautiful laughter died from the room.

"I still haven't really thought about it. But on the rare occasion that college does cross my brain, I like the thought of literature the best."

"You would excel greatly with that."

I looked up at his golden eyes then, they were serious. I was lost for a moment, forgetting everything. He shot me his crooked smile as he brought my face up to his.

Our kisses, since his return, had been different, in a good way, of course. They were so filled with passion; I never wanted them to stop.

All of the sudden, in one of his lightning fast movements, he had me on top of him. His hands were caressing my back; mine went straight for his beautiful bronze hair. I have no clue how long we stayed like that, all I know, is that it wasn't long enough.

Then just as suddenly as it started, it was over. He laid me back down beside him, I was close to hyperventilation.

"I'm sorry," he said after a moment. "That was uncalled for."

"Actually," I said panting "It was very called for; I just thought that you couldn't read my mind," I said smiling at him.

Edward shot me back his crooked grin. I hated when he apologized for his intensity at showing affection, but we still had those "Bella Safety Rules".

Just one week and we would graduate, and, if I didn't make up my mind on his proposal by then, Carlisle would turn me. Then we would never have to hold back again. Oh! What a thought, it actually scared me a little.

"What are you thinking?" Edward asked quietly.

"One week," I said a little too excitedly. I think he understood though. He went back to stroking my hair, and I, his perfect chest.


	2. Ch 2: Yale Bound

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Two:**

**Yale Bound**

I looked over at the clock and groaned. It was 6:30, and Charlie would be home any minute. I love my dad, but, parents have a way of holding a grudge. I understood that it killed him to see me so torn up for all those months. But why couldn't he accept that I was happy again, because of Edward.

All he ever commented on was the fact that Edward broke me. So I would constantly have to remind him that he also took responsibility and fixed me.

That was another thing to look forward to. Once I graduate I will no longer have to worry about his stubborn mind set.

Edward got up and buttoned his shirt, and then he picked me up. "Should we reconvene downstairs?"

"I guess if we have to." He smiled as he ran down the stairs and sat us on the couch. We grabbed the books we had waiting on the coffee table and began to read.

I was flipping pages but not taking in a single word of whatever book was in my hands. I looked over and noticed that Edward was reading John Grisham's _Runaway Jury._

"That's a good movie." I stated putting down my book.

"If you like the movie; I don't think you will like the book."

"Why"

"The movie centers on the gun companies. In the book, it's the tobacco industry; completely different."

"That sounds dumb. Is it set at a different time?"

"No, it isn't why?"

"Well, with the whole surgeon's general warning and all. How could someone sue the tobacco industry after 1969?"

"I don't know. They just do."

I rolled my eyes. "I need to go make dinner." I said as I got up and kissed Edward's cheek.

Even though I was not making dinner for the two of us; after the day I had just had, and the fact that I was making dinner for two. It almost felt like we were a married couple already, it felt nice.

Why was I so scared to marry him? I know he loves me, for eternity. And that he will never leave me again. So what is it that I am frightened of?

"Charlie will be here in 3 ... 2 ... 1." Edward called to me.

I heard the tires of the cruiser on the driveway. I quickly put the steaks in the pan. I grabbed a can of corn from the cabinet and dumped it into a bowl. Then I added some butter and salt and put it in the microwave. I turned the steaks and started to make a salad.

"Bella," Charlie called as he walked in.

"Making dinner, dad," I called back to him

"The steaks smell great," he said coming straight into the kitchen.

"Thanks dad." I beamed him a smile. "Did you catch much today?" I asked

"Yes. Seth is a natural; I don't know why he never came with us before," he stood in thought for a moment. Then he turned and went to the living room, while I finished dinner.

I braced myself for my dad's steely "Hello Edward," but it never came. He must have gone upstairs.

"Where's the fish dad?" I wondered when I never heard him put it away.

"I let Seth keep it, we have plenty."

That was true. As I was setting the plates on the table there was a knock at the door.

"I wonder who that could be," Charlie said as he pulled himself away from the sports channel. "Alice?" He said in surprise.

"Hello Charlie. Can I come in for a moment?"

"Of course," he replied.

With dinner on the table I joined Charlie and Alice in the living room.

"Hey Alice," I said as I came into the room. She bounded forward and kissed my cheek.

"Charlie, I know that it is the last week of school." She was looking at him pleadingly for some reason. "But I was wondering if Bella could spend the night at my house tonight? Once we graduate, I don't know when I will get to see her again." It sounded so sincere; I had to hold in my laughter. "You see. I have been accepted to Yale. I will be leaving on Saturday, Summer Coarse One starts on Wednesday, and I want to be settled before I start my classes."

"Congratulations Alice. Yale is a great school. What are you going to be studying?"

"Thank you. I am going to finalize that plan once my generals are out of the way. But I was thinking about fashion design."

"That sounds great. Sure, Bella can go over. But we were just about to sit down to dinner." He looked sad for a moment.

"I will wait." Alice said with a smile

"I feel bad now. Are you hungry Alice?" Now I really had to hold in my laughter. I turned quickly back to the kitchen; I would just have to eat quickly.

"No sir. But while you two eat I can pack some clothes for Bella. That way when she is done we can leave." I groaned. Who really knew why I was being taken to the Cullen's, and I could only guess what Alice would pack for me.

"Okay, but if you change your mind, just let us know."

Charlie watched as Alice walked up the stairs to my room. Finally he came into the kitchen to eat. I was already half done.

"I know you want to go, but slow down, or you are going to choke yourself." I smiled slightly and slowed a little.

Alice came back down about ten minutes later. I could only guess that she was giving me time to finish eating. I washed my plate quickly and gave Charlie a kiss. Then I ran upstairs, tripping twice, thankfully Alice caught me. I brushed my teeth and threw my shoes on. Then I went back downstairs, more carefully this time. "See you dad," I called over my shoulder to Charlie as I walked out the door with Alice.


	3. Ch 3: Burgundy and Black

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Three:**

**Burgundy and Black**

I got into the passenger seat, as Alice got into the back seat of the Volvo. I was not surprised in the least when I walked out the door and Edward winked at me from the driver's seat.

He pulled me to him and gave me a quick kiss. "It's been too long." He purred in my ear as we raced down the highway to his house. Alice giggled from the back seat.

"So what is going on? Nice lie by the way Alice. How long have you been waiting to use that line on Charlie?"

"I thought of it on my run home, actually." Edward said with mock hurt.

I smiled at him. "That quick vampire mind of yours sure does come in handy." He squeezed my hand.

"So what are we up to?" I asked again.

"I just wanted to be with you." Edward said simply

I turned a deep crimson. I loved when he said things like that, but not in front of the others, even if it was just Alice.

When we got to the house Edward helped me out of the car, as Alice danced in ahead of us. I was shocked to see Carlisle and Esme sitting on a couch in the living room. Carlisle was usually at the hospital at this time of night.

"Esme, Carlisle." I smiled at them. "How are you tonight?" I asked

"Good and yourself?" Esme asked

"Great!" I said my smile widening.

"We'll be upstairs if you need us." Edward said as he towed me to the stairs.

"It's getting late; shouldn't Bella be getting some sleep?" Carlisle called after us.

"She will, don't worry." Edward answered him.

I could only imagine what was going through Carlisle's mind as Edward's arm tightened around my waist.

When we got to his room I sat on his black leather couch. Though it was very dark out, it still wasn't that late.

"So what do we do now?" I asked Edward

"Whatever we want," He said as he put in a CD, and then came to sit by me.

Edvin Marton, classical was fast becoming my favorite music. I could just lie in Edward's arms, my head on his chest. And let the music bring lovely, soothing images to my mind.

I sat on his lap, with him stroking my hair. I was not too sure when I fell asleep. But the dream I had was the most beautiful I could remember.

I was in the meadow. The sun was high in the sky. And standing before me was seven sparkling vampires. There was a gazebo with a glass roof in the middle of the meadow. Standing underneath was Carlisle and Edward. The sun sparkling off what skin it could reach, as they were both dressed in tuxedos. Carlisle's was a deep charcoal gray, while Edward's was a brilliant navy blue. I looked to Edward's right and saw Jasper and Emmett; both looking gorgeous in basic black. They were all smiling at me happily.

I looked to the left and saw Alice and Rosalie in stunning burgundy dresses. Though they were both the same color, the styles were right for only them. Alice's was a floor length gown with a dramatically plunging neckline; and beaded band details. Rosalie's had a sheer corset bodice with a tiered skirt and floral accents.

I looked back to the right and found Esme sitting in a lone chair, the groom's side I presume. She was in a beautiful full length, wine colored, spaghetti strap, mermaid dress. It had sheer side panels and a jeweled sweetheart neckline.

Finally I looked down at myself. I was in an ivory dress. It was a strapless satin and tissue organza gown. The bodice was embellished with diamonds at the neckline and waist. My vale, was more of a cape, it connected in the front by an intricate string of pearls with a platinum clasp in the shape of roses.

I walked forward and Edward pulled me in close to his side. I beamed a huge grin at him. Then Carlisle started to speak.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today, in the sight of god, and this witness, to bind in holy matrimony Edward and Isabella. If there be any here that do not believe that these two should be joined, speak now or FOREVER hold your peace." I looked around and everyone was just smiling at me. "Then I will let Edward and Bella speak the vows they have written themselves. Edward."

"Isabella Marie Swan. You have brought joy, life, and love to my existence; you, who have given me more than I ever have, or will ever deserve. You have brought light to my world, and reason to my life. You have completed the most basic parts of me that I didn't even realize were incomplete, until I met you. To live without you is to live in a black hole, devoid of everything. You are my everything, and Always will be."

I didn't realize when I started to cry; Edward reached up and wiped the tears away from my eyes. "Bella it is your turn." Carlisle said. But I was still so speechless from Edward's beautiful words. I took a deep breath, and Edward smiled my crooked smile.

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. You may never know what you truly mean to me. So let me see if I can shine some light on the subject for you. There is not a single thing about you that I want to be without; from your smoldering topaz eyes, to your glistening skin. But that is not enough for me. I want your quick mind and you're every thought also. When you are away, for no matter how long, my day is dark. You are the planet for which my moon revolves. I would die should anything happen to that planet; because love doesn't even begin to describe what I have for you, and always will."

Carlisle started to speak again, while Edward and I just stared into each other's eyes. "Can we have the rings please?" Edward turned to Jasper, while I turned to Alice. "Edward, would you please put the ring on Bella and repeat after me. I Edward Anthony Masen Cullen."

"I Edward Anthony Masen Cullen,"

"Do solemnly swear."

"Do solemnly swear."

"To honor, cherish, protect, and love."

"To honor, cherish, protect, and love."

"Isabella Marie Swan"

"Isabella Marie Swan ... Cullen" I smiled and so did Carlisle.

"Until the end of existence,"

"Until the end of existence,"

"Now Bella. If you could put his ring on and repeat after me. I Isabella Marie Swan."

"I Isabella Marie Swan,"

"Do solemnly swear."

"Do solemnly swear."

"To honor, cherish, protect, and love."

"To honor, cherish, protect, and love."

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen"

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen"

"Until the end of existence,"

"Until the end of existence,"

"You may now kiss the bride." Carlisle said to Edward.

It was the most exquisite kiss ever. He then picked me up and ran through the forest back to the car. But it wasn't the Volvo; it was his special occasion Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. The others were all getting into their cars as well. When he was in the driver's seat he looked at me for a moment, then he asked.

"Are you sure you are ready for this?"

"Three days," was all I said; with a grin on my face from ear to ear.

We sped back to his house and Alice gave me some clothes to change into. When I was done Edward laid me on his couch and started to kiss me. He started to trail the kisses down my cheek to my neck. Then he pressed his lips to my neck and slowly opened his mouth. At first the pain didn't sink in. But when it did I jerked upright out of my unconsciousness.

Edward was by my side in a second. "What's the matter? You were crying." He sounded so worried.

I looked up into his liquid topaz eyes and said. "Yes"

His eyes glazed over with happiness.


	4. Ch 4: Congratulations

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Four:**

**Congratulations**

"Yes? Yes! Is that a yes to what I think it is?"

"Yes!" I said as I bit my lower lip.

"ALICE!" Edward shouted so suddenly that I jumped.

"Sorry Bella." He said wrapping me in his arms. "I didn't mean to scare you."

I just smiled as he pulled me even tighter to his chest.

"What?" An annoyed voice from the doorway called. "I was having some fun with Jazz before school." She looked at me quickly. "Bella, isn't it a little early for you to be up? It's only 5:30."

Edward spoke first though. "You don't know?" He asked her skeptically

"Know what?"

"You didn't know?"

"Know what?"

"Alice!" He raised his perfect eyebrow

"Edward!" She sounded even more annoyed. "I am going back to Jazz, if you keep up these little cryptic games of yours."

"Bella just said yes." He said with a huge smile.

"Well," she said uncomprehending "She says lots of words, all the time."

Edward looked at her meaningfully "Bella. Just. Said. YES!" He said the last word a little more poignantly.

"She said yes?" Alice's face lit with her huge grin.

"Congratulations!" She ran into the room and gave me a huge hug. Then she ran out at top speed yelling through the house. "Everyone, everyone, Bella said yes. Bella said yes!"

Within seconds everyone was in Edward's room, grins from ear to ear. Esme came over to me and gave me a gentle hug. "It really is about time, you know." She said smiling at me. "Carlisle got called in, but I will go call him now."

She ran from the room and everyone converged on us. "One minute." Edward said throwing his hands up to stop his brothers and sisters. Then he grabbed me and pulled me to his bathroom. "What changed your mind all of the sudden. Not that I am not glad you are finally giving in, but ... Why now?"

"I just finally realized," I hesitated for a second, so as to say this right. "All of my hesitation, and fear, it had nothing to do with us, and it never did. It was all due to Charlie and Renee. And I realized we are not them. Our love is true, and eternal. So why not start out eternity right; and right now?"

I saw him smile as he leaned down to kiss me.

"Are you two ever coming back out?" Alice called to us. I had to laugh.

As we walked out of the bathroom I tripped, of course. Everyone started to laugh as Edward caught me and held me in his arms protectively. I smiled at him sheepishly as he ran back to the couch and sat me down. Emmett immediately came over and crushed me in a massive bear hug. "Welcome little sis, it's so nice of you to join the club."

"Thank you Emmett" I said as I turned even redder, if that was possible. When he put me down Edward put his arms around me possessively. As if he didn't want anyone else taking me away from his side, it made me feel good.

"Congratulations." Rosalie said with a smile as Emmett went back to her side.

"Thank you Rosalie."

Jasper put his arms around Alice and smiled in my direction. "It really is about time." He said

"I agree," said Alice. "We have so much to do. OH shopping spree!" she looked at Rosalie. "Should we take her to Seattle after school today?"

"Won't she have to go home after school?" Rosalie asked her. I was trying to tune out their conversation, I hated shopping. Edward looked down at me and smiled my favorite crooked smile, I was mush.

"I forgot all about Charlie," Alice stated "I'll think of something, give me some credit."

"Alice. I said yes ten minutes ago, the wedding is not tomorrow, calm down, we have time."

All of the sudden her eyes glazed over. It was a good thing that Jasper already had his arms around her. He picked her up and sat her next to me on the couch. Edward got a huge grin on his face. What ever they were seeing it was obviously a good thing. Alice blinked twice then focused on Jasper.

"That was beautiful," Edward said

"What was?" I asked

"You will find out, soon enough," he leaned down and kissed me again.

"Okay, I'm out of here, come on Emmett," Rosalie said pulling Emmett behind her

"Weren't we rudely interrupted?" Jasper said to Alice throwing Edward a slight glare. "What were we doing again?" Alice jumped up and giggled as she ran from the room with Jasper close behind her.

"And then there were two." Edward whispered in my ear as he started to kiss me again. Then he turned my face so as to look at me. "You really should get some more sleep; you still have a few hours."

"I'll be okay," I said stifling a yawn

"I can see that," he chuckled as he pulled me onto his lap and started to hum my lullaby.

"You are such a cheater," I said as my eyelids started to droop, Edward chuckled again. I followed his hum back into unconsciousness.

When I looked up I saw myself in a full length mirror. It looked like I was in Alice's closet. I was in the same dress as before. Esme came up behind me and put her arms around me.

"You look lovely Bella," she said turning me, to look me in the eyes. "I was so glad that you told Edward yes. You have no idea how much he needs you in his life."

"I am sure it is the other way around, Esme. I need him; and all of you. I am so glad that I made the stupid decision to move to Forks with Charlie. I am a little sad, that he won't be there to walk me down the aisle. And I feel bad, that I will never be able to see him or Renee again. But I would rather be right here, right now, than any where else, or be with anyone else. I made this decision a long time ago. I think it is time that I follow through with it."

I turned and looked over my dress again. Esme wrapped her arms around me again. "We are just so happy that you decided to keep us," I smiled, "I will see you downstairs my dear," and she was gone.

"Bella, Bella," I heard Edward's soft voice calling me.

"Yes?" I said opening my eyes with a smile playing on my lips.

"Another good dream; you sure were smiling a lot."

"Yes, it was," I sat up and stretched, "I will be right back."

I ran into the bathroom and grabbed my toothbrush out of my bathroom bag that was on the counter. I brushed my teeth and then pulled my hair into a knot at the back of my head. That still seemed too messy. So I braided the ponytail and wrapped it around into a bun; satisfied with my hair out of the way for once. I went back to Edward.

"Where is your hair?" He asked. I turned around to show him the bun.

"Alice will be here any second to play with her dress-up-Bella doll. I better go," Edward came to my side instantly and kissed my neck. It sent shivers down my spine.

"Thank you," he whispered in my ear

"Thank you" I whispered back

"Thank you for what?" He asked

"For your patients; I love you."

"I know."

"Oh Bella!" I heard Alice call as she came up the stairs.

"I told you," I smiled at Edward and stole one quick kiss before Alice pulled me to her vast closet.

"What happened to the close you brought from Charlie's?" I asked quickly

"Oh, you know, that was just for show. Here try this on," She handed me a pair of bronze pants that were made out of some sort of shinny material. The shirt was brown and flared at the hips. The arms were made of some sort of mashing that was the same color brown. There were little flower patterns in the meshing. It was a cute outfit, I liked it. Then she handed me some black shoes to complete the outfit.

"You look great," Alice said

"Can I go back to Edward now?"

"Sure but don't forget about our little shopping trip after school today," like that would be possible, and there was no such thing, as a little shopping trip with Alice involved.

"I won't," I called over my shoulder as I ran back to Edward's room.


	5. Ch 5: Manic Mondays

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Five:**

**Manic Mondays**

As we pulled into the school parking lot something dawned on me. "Edward." I said tentatively "I was just wondering. How will this work when we go back to high school? I mean, Alice and Jasper and Rosalie and Emmett works because of the whole Cullen/Hale thing. But, what will our story be?"

"I have no clue, and to tell you the truth, I don't care. We have plenty of time to figure it out anyway. We still have a week of high school here. And then we have college. So, see, we have years to figure it out," he smiled at me warmly.

"Whatever you say," I was just going to focus on making it through the day, I couldn't stop smiling. Someone was going to be bound to notice. I didn't know what I was going to say if they asked me why I was smiling so much.

Of course, Mike was the first one to notice. I was trying to ignore him all through English. I was starting to daydream. I remembered how beautiful I looked in that mirror, in my wedding dress, about to marry Edward. I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face.

All of the sudden Edward growled low and menacing next to me. The sound snapped me right out of my daydream.

"What is the matter?" I asked; a note of panic in my voice.

"Newton." Edward said plainly under his breath.

"What?" I was confused "What did he do?"

He thinks that you're smiling because you noticed that he's been staring at you all hour," Edward was livid.

"I don't know what else we can do to make him get it through his thick skull, that I want nothing to do with him."

"I have an idea," Edward said with a wicked glint in his eyes, I was terrified.

"What do you have in mind?" I asked my voice cracking.

Edward looked at me. "Don't worry, silly Bella. I'm not going to hurt the child. Well, not physically, you'll see."

"I hate surprises!"

"Calm down Bella. I love you."

"Says the one with the wicked plan," Edward chuckled.

The sky was a pearly gray today. Perfect, since there was no rain we sat outside for lunch. I ended up with only Alice since Edward had mysteriously disappeared. Once again, I was worried. When Edward got back Alice winked at him.

"Alice," I whispered "Did you have another vision." I hated when they tag teamed against me, even more than I hated shopping with Alice.

"Maybe," She said in a sing song voice.

I had not turned to greet Edward as he stood behind me. I was too nervous about what he had been doing for the last half hour.

"Bella," Edward said and I turned automatically, to see Edward kneeling on the ground in front of me. My heart started crashing in my chest. I know he could hear it, because his smile grew even bigger.

"Isabella Marie Swan. Will you marry me?"

I was speechless, after what seemed like an hour I finally choked out a quiet. "Yes!"

Everyone was staring at us, naturally. I could not believe that he just proposed to me in front of half the school. I jumped up into his arms and kissed him. As he held me tightly I caught sight of Mike's sour face. He really should have taken all those hints.

"Congratulations," Alice rang out

Everyone else was still in awed silence. Edward put me down and kissed me lightly; a huge grin spreading across his face. I guess he got his desired reaction, from Mike, as well as from me.

Almost everyone jumped as the bell suddenly rang. I walked in a daze beside Edward. I could not believe what had just happened. As we walked past Eric and Tyler I heard Eric say. "So much for Mondays being manic,"

"What are you talking about?" Tyler asked

"Whatever, don't act like you've never heard that song before, you know. Just another Manic Monday; wish it was a Sunday; 'Cause that's my fun day." Eric started to sing. I turned away from their conversation. As we were headed to gym, I needed my wits about me.

Edward smiled again. I was so shocked that he had just proposed in front of half the school; that I hadn't even noticed the ring that had now been on my finger for the last ten minutes.

I picked my hand up and almost collapsed, it was so beautiful. It had an antique look to it. It was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. It was simple yet elegant, with a round diamond in the center, embraced by a delicate butterfly on either side of it, and smaller diamonds going all along the band.

When I looked up from the ring we were at the Cullen's house. I don't even know where the rest of the day went. It was a good thing that this was the last week and we weren't doing any actual work.

As we stepped into the house Alice sang out. "Guess what happened at school today?" Her grin was so infectious. Or maybe it was my own true joy that brought such a huge smile to my face. I never knew that it was possible to be this happy.

Esme came into the living room; followed shortly by Jasper, who flew down the stairs at the sound of Alice's voice. He went straight to her side as Emmett and Rosalie joined us too.

"What did Edward do now?" Emmett boomed out

"He proposed in front of the entire cafeteria."

"Jeez man," Emmett said smiling "How many times do you have to propose to get the girl to say yes?"

Jasper, who was closest to Emmett, slapped the back of his head.

"Thanks Jasper," Edward said smiling hugely

"No problem," Jasper said smiling back

"So what are you all up to today?" Esme asked once we stopped laughing at Emmett

"We are going shopping in Seattle." Alice said eyeing me

"Isn't it too late for Bella to be going that far tonight?" Esme asked with motherly concern

"No, I have it all taken care of," Alice answered

"Come on girls. Esme, would you like to come with us? It will be fun," she said in her sing song voice.

"Sure, why not."

"See you later boys." Alice said as she bound forward and kissed Jasper. Esme beat us to the door as we were all saying our goodbyes. I gave Edward a kiss. And it seemed like neither of us wanted it to end. It was so hard to leave him, between his lips and his eyes. I was trapped by Edward. Alice soon noticed and came over, pulling me away by my hand, I was horrified and grateful.


	6. Ch 6: Destiny

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Six:**

**Destiny**

"I love wedding shopping," Alice said as we flew down the highway.

I was glad to have Esme in the back seat with me. Alice was driving faster than ever in her attempt to get me back home by 10:30; I don't know how she swung it. Somehow, though, Charlie had never been able to tell Alice no, not once.

We got to Seattle at around 5:00. Gotta love those vampire reflexes and speed; but Alice didn't stop when we hit the busiest section of the city. And I noticed that she wasn't dragging me to a mall. Then I thought about it, you don't do wedding shopping in a mall.

As we slowed on a street lined with fancy little boutiques, Alice asked me what colors I wanted. I told them about the dream I had "recently". Alice and Rosalie wore beautiful burgundy dresses, Jasper and Emmett wore basic black tuxedos, and Carlisle was the one performing the service, and he was in a deep charcoal gray. But Edward was in a gorgeous navy blue; Esme, who was the only true witness, not being a part of the wedding party, had on a lovely wine colored dress.

They agreed that those were good color choices. Alice pulled me out of the car then, before I had even realized that it had stopped. She laughed heartily at the look on my face, as she nearly ripped my arm off. We were in front of a store called Saison Blanche. It was huge and filled with the most exquisite dresses I had ever seen.

At first we just wondered around, all going a different direction. Then I was forced to stop dead in my tracks. I had come to the exact center of the store. There was a display of about a dozen mannequins. It wasn't the fact that the display was gigantic. It wasn't the fact that the dresses seemed to be made for only the most perfect of womanly bodies. No, what made me freeze was the fact that in the direct middle of the display was the three dresses from my dream.

"Alice!" I choked out. There was no sound to my voice, but she heard me.

"What is the matter, Bella?" she asked quickly, panicked probably by my low cry. "Are you alright?"

Then she followed my gaze. As I had still not taken my eyes off of the mannequins. "Those are the same dresses from my dream, the three in the middle. You were in the first one, Esme was in the second, and Rosalie was in the third," I said calmly as I found my breath again.

Alice looked at me quickly when I said this. "You dreamed those exact dresses?" She asked after a moment.

"Well, like I said, you and Rosalie were in burgundy. And Esme was in wine, but, other than that ... Yes."

Alice kept looking as me incredulously. Then she called softly for Rosalie and Esme to join us. "So, Bella thinks that she has found our dresses." I looked up quickly, at her as I had sat down by a large rack of flowery dresses. Rosalie arched one perfect eye brow.

"I didn't say that!" I choked out

Alice cut me off though. "Hey, Rosalie," she said getting Rosalie's attention again. "What do you think about that dress? The ..." She counted it out quickly. "The seventh one there?" she said as she pointed to the dress.

"Wow, I like it, it's definitely something I would buy," she said looking to me again.

"Esme, what do you think about the sixth one?" she asked turning to Esme.

Esme looked at it and I could tell that she was imagining herself in it. "That is also very pretty," she said after a moment.

"Well apparently, those are the dresses we were wearing in Bella's dream. I was in the fifth one," she said with a smile.

"Those are beautiful dresses Bella, dear," Esme called over to me. "Are you alright?" she asked coming over to me and putting her arm around my shoulder.

"It is just so weird, I mean, I have never had any reason to look at a bridal magazine. And I have obviously never been here before. So how did I dream of you in those exact dresses?"

"It is called a coincidence my dear," Esme said squeezing me gently.

"It's also called DESTINY!" chimed in Alice.

I looked at her through narrowed eyes. "So do you really like them?" I asked looking from Esme to Rosalie.

"Yes," Alice answered for them. "I'll be right back," she walked off towards the nearest assistant. I saw Alice trying to convince her of something as she kept gesturing towards the display. Finally, she must have gotten her way, because she came back to us smiling.

"Well, according to little miss store manager. Those dresses only come in the color that they are displayed in. With the exception of Esme's," my face fell. "But don't worry Bella. I convinced her that burgundy was the most popular color for bridesmaids this season. So she said that she will have everything taken care of by Friday," she smiled hugely again.

"I don't mean to be difficult," I said quickly

"Bella! This is your wedding, act like it, take a stand and demand what you want," Rosalie said.

"I can't do that."

"I know," Alice said with her pixie grin, "That's why you have us."

"I love you guys."

"We love you, too. Little sis," that sounded so nice coming from her. "Esme, you can get your dress now if you want. But I can also pick it up on Friday, when I come to get mine and Rosalie's."

"We can wait. You know how nosy the boys can get," the three of them started laughing.

"So where are we going to next?" I asked.

"Well, there is a great wedding dress boutique just around the corner. We can go there if nothing here appeals to you. I think there are lots of dresses there that will look gorgeous on you."

I nodded my head and got up. Alice took my hand and we started walking down the center aisle towards the door. I was looking around absentmindedly, when my eyes got caught on a mannequin in the corner of the window display.

The mannequin had on a lovely white dress; though it was a little to decorate for me. But the cape like vale that was draped around the mannequin was what really caught my eye. I was forced to stop dead again. I squeezed Alice's hand.

"That is the vale from my dream," I told her, eyes wide, as I pointed to the mannequin. "What are the chances of that?"

"Well, let's just add that to the list of things to be picked up on Friday. I will be back in a minute." As Alice walked over to the mannequin and pulled off the wrap, I told Esme and Rosalie what was going on. Alice came back from the desk and grabbed my hand. "You really are lucky today; they said that that was the last one they had in stock."

She smiled as we walked out of the store and down the street. Alice stopped in front of a store called Eden's Bridals. It was just as big as the last store. And even I could see myself in many of these dresses. This time when we split up though, Alice came with me and Rosalie and Esme teamed up.

Just to see what would happen I found the center of the store. It also contained a large display. I looked over each dress carefully. None of them was the dress from my dream. Then Rosalie and Esme came up to us. They each handed me a dress to try on.

I took the two dresses to the dressing room. The attendant told me to take room three. So I let go of Alice's hand and walked into the room. I went to hang up the two dresses, and take off my clothes, when I noticed that there was a dress lying on the bench. I called for the attendant and told her. But, she just blew it off, and said that she would take care of it when I was done with the room.

I felt bad that such a pretty dress was just thrown here in a pile. So I picked it up and went to put it back on the hanger that was on the hook next to Rosalie's and Esme's dresses. Once the dress was righted and I could actually see it I gasped. Alice was at the door instantly.

"What is the matter Bella?" she called "Or are you unable to believe that you are beautiful in this kind of clothes?"

"Just one minute," I called out to her breathless. Today had been such a whirlwind of weird and wild occurrences. I decided to see where it was going to take me. So I left the other dresses where I had put them and unzipped the one that was in my hands. I slipped it on and counted to ten with my eyes closed. When I opened them again I turned slowly and looked at myself in the mirror.

"What are you doing Bella?" Alice was clearly getting impatient.

"Just hold on, I need a second," I willed myself to pull my eyes off of my own reflection. Then I turned again and opened the door slowly. All three of them were waiting for me.

"That isn't either of the dresses that we picked out," Rosalie said.

Alice just stared at me astonished. "I know it isn't," I said quietly as I walked up to the mirror to look at the dress more fully. "It is the dress from my dream." Alice's eyes grew even larger.

"Are you sure?" she asked me. I just nodded and continued to gaze at my reflection. "Because that is the exact dress that you were wearing in my vision this morning," she said her eyes still wide.

My head snapped in her direction. "Are you serious?" I asked her.

"I told you it was destiny," Alice said "Well that was by far the shortest time it has ever taken us to go wedding shopping. However, we do still need to get the guys tuxedos. Bella, I know all of their sizes. If you want, we can go on Wednesday to get them."

"Okay," I told her. I had gone back to looking at the dress in the mirror. This had to be, by far, the weirdest day ever. Even weirder than the day that I found out that Edward and the rest of the Cullen's were vampires.

Alice and Rosalie walked away to find out about the dress I was contemplating on never getting out of. Esme then came up behind me and wrapped her arms around me.

"I was so glad when you told Edward yes this morning." Wow, had that only happened this morning? "You have no idea how long we have been waiting for this," she smiled at me through the mirror.

"Esme, I love Edward with all of my heart. I love all of you. I am truly the luckiest person in the world. Thank you, with all of my heart. Thank you."

"Thank you?" She asked quizzically "For what?"

"For being there for me, for treating me like a daughter; and loving me, even though I have really brought nothing but chaos to your family. I do not think that I could ever correctly express what your family means to me."

Esme squeezed me a little tighter. "It is your family now, too. And we are so glad to have you," my answering smile was so huge that it hurt my face.

"Well, I guess I better get out of this dress now."

"You do look so beautiful in it though." I was shocked when I realized that it was Rosalie who had said this.

"Yes, I can't wait to see Edward's face when he sees you," Esme added.

"Thank you Rosalie," I said turning red.

"You're welcome," she replied smiling at my flushed face.

"Okay now," Alice said interrupting our tentative exchange. "Change already. We still need to get you some food before we get you home."

I had almost forgotten about Charlie, I did that a lot when I was with the Cullen's. Perhaps that was a good thing. Not that I wouldn't always love my parents. But that might make the whole "never being able to see them again" part that much easier; maybe.


	7. Ch 7: Things Are Finally Coming Together

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Seven:**

**Things are Finally Coming Together**

I carefully took the dress off and put it back on the hanger. I put my clothes back on and grabbed all three dresses'. Alice took the one that I would be keeping to the counter. Rosalie took the other two and put them back on their racks. I slowly walked to the door with Esme. She grabbed my left hand and Alice bound forward, taking my right.

This might not have been the best day in my life, but it was definitely in the top three. We walked to the car hand in hand in hand in hand; as Rosalie had taken Esme's left hand.

"So what do you feel like eating?" Alice asked as we got into the car.

"I don't care. I guess a chicken sandwich from what ever fast food place we pass will be fine."

"Okay," Alice said as she started to drive through the crowded city streets, at top speed. She stopped at a gas station and filled the tank. Then we went across the street and she got me a chicken sandwich, a coke, and some onion rings. And then we were on our way back to Forks.

The drive back was such a blur. We talked about the dresses and about how weird it was that they were the same dresses I had dreamed of. Alice kept talking about destiny and about how the really weird part was that she had seen me in that dress in the vision that she had had this morning.

"Wait a minute," I said "This morning? Is that what Edward said was beautiful this morning?" I asked Alice.

A huge grin spread across her face. "Yes, it was looks like things are finally coming together for you two."

"About time," I muttered. They all laughed.

"So we haven't talked about a wedding location. There is no way that after waiting this long, and finding those dresses, I am letting the two of you go to Vegas and cut us out," Alice said almost madly, almost as if it had been discussed or something. "Is there anywhere you have ever thought about getting married?" She asked more calmly.

"To tell you the truth, I have never even fantasized about getting married, before I met Edward. But there is one place that has been on my mind all day."

"Where is that?" Rosalie pressed when I didn't continue.

"The meadow," I answered

"Well, that certainly is doable," Alice said "Do you know when you want the big day to be? If I know Edward, he will want it to be tomorrow," she laughed.

I stared down at my beautiful ring. That almost didn't sound too bad. I looked back up at Alice "How about we see how long it will take to get the tuxedos. We know that we will have the dresses on Friday. Oh, wait, when can we get my dress?" I quickly asked realizing that I had no clue.

"Friday," Alice answered

"Then, yes, let's just wait to figure that out on Wednesday," I said

Alice and Rosalie started talking about flowers and decorations. I sat back in the seat and thought about Edward. This was the longest I had been away from him since he came back. When he had left it killed us both. Now that he was back we had truth and clarity. It was like they say. If you love something let it go, if it comes back it is yours, if not, it never was. Now that I knew that he was with me for me, and not out of guilt or obligation.

Now, that acorn that had been planted in us had grown into the most marvelous tree ever. It was even starting to sprout flowers now. And I was anxious to get back to him, whenever we were separated, for however long, but I had to go home now.

I was pulled out of my thought by a cold arm being wrapped around my shoulders. I looked up to see Esme smiling down at me.

"You looked like you were getting tired. If you want, you can lay your head on my shoulder," I smiled and rested against her.

Alice put a CD in; as soothing jazz music filled the car I fell asleep almost instantly. I was obviously asleep for a while, because I woke to Edward laying me on my bed.

"Where did you come from?" I asked sitting up panicked.

"Shh ... Just go back to sleep, before Charlie comes up," he kissed me on the forehead and walked back out the door, I fell back to sleep instantly.


	8. Ch 8: Rumer Has It

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Eight:**

**Rumor Has It**

When I woke in the morning, I laid still and stared straight at the ceiling. I slowly turned my head to the right to check the time; it was 5:30 in the morning. I groaned, and two cold, strong arms wrapped around me. I turned my head to the left and was looking Edward straight in the eyes. I turned my body, not taking my eyes off of Edward's, and wrapped my arms around him as well.

Neither of us said a word as we lay there in each other's arms. After what seemed like an eternity Edward finally broke the silence.

"You should really be getting up now, my beautiful fiancée." The thrill that went through me when he called me his fiancée, it was beyond comprehension. I slowly and unwillingly pulled myself from his arms. I grabbed my bathroom bag and a set of clothes, and headed to the bathroom.

First thing I did was brush me teeth. Then I quickly stripped and jumped into the shower. But the faster you try to be, the longer you take. I got out and wrapped a towel around my hair. Then I pulled my clothes on, not even bothering to dry off. That seemed to be a mistake. The clothes were sticking to my wet body, making me take ten times longer to get out of the bathroom. Once the clothes were finally on I pulled my brush through my hair.

As I tried to tame my unruly hair, I found myself thinking about Alice and her dress-up-Bella time. At least then I was not the one wrestling with my stupid hair. I decided to just pull it up in a ponytail. I then ran back to my room.

A quick glance at the clock told me that I still had half an hour with Edward before we had to go. Since he was still lying on my bed, I decided to lay back down with him.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked him

He shot me his crooked smile and answered. "You," as he pulled my face to his.

"What about me?" I asked when I could speak again.

"I was wondering what I could possibly have done to deserve you?"

"I have told you before;" I scolded him, "You have that backwards," I turned so that my back was on his chest, as he wrapped his arms around me, his hands resting on my stomach. "You know," I teased him "According to Alice, this is destiny."

"Well, Alice did always have her own way of looking at things. But, I will accept that," he squeezed me gently and kissed my neck.

Then, in one of his lightning fast movements, we were off of the bed. "You need breakfast," he stood me on the floor before adding. "I will be back in five minutes, and I am sure that Charlie is just waiting downstairs to talk to you."

"Why?" I asked almost fearfully. I always hated when he gave out those cryptic little hints that said that he knew something I didn't, because he could read minds. He then lifted my left hand; I looked at it and gasped.

"Charlie knows!?" I shrieked

"Well, he heard a rumor. That is what he is going to say."

"How am I going to explain this?" I left the question hanging in the air. Sudden inspiration hit me; I quickly ripped the ring from my finger and thrust it at him. "You take this till I get in the car."

Edward's eyes went wide. "What are you doing?" His voice sounded shocked and hurt.

"I don't know," I said as I sank to the floor with my arms wrapped around myself. "What am I going to do?"

"Well, it is up to you Bella, but I really was hoping that you would never take this off," he said eyeing the ring scornfully.

"I am so sorry Edward," I said as I shot back up, so fast I got dizzy and began to wobble. Edward caught and steadied me, as usual. I held out my hand to him. "Please put it back on."

He gave me a halfhearted smile and placed the ring back on my hand. I smiled back at him. "That is it," I said determinedly. "I am going to go straight down there and tell him."

"Are you sure? I would hate for you to feel pressured into doing this," his eyes were unsure. I hated the fact that I did that to him.

I leaned up and kissed his lips. As I pulled back he pulled me in closer, tangling my ponytail around his hand, and holding me to him. When he let me go I was near hyperventilation. "Thank you." I said with a smile.

I turned around and walked out of the room and to the stairs slowly. I was still a little dizzy from that last kiss and I didn't need any injuries at the moment. I made sure to use the banister so I wouldn't trip down the stairs. As I walked into the kitchen I saw Charlie sitting at the kitchen table. His fingers were interlaced and sat on top of the table. He was sitting straight backed watching the entrance to the kitchen. Edward was right, as always, he was waiting for me.

"Good morning Dad," I said as I got my bowl of cereal.

"Bella, could you please have a seat," I could hear the not completely controlled rage in his voice.

"Sure Dad," I smiled at him as I put my cereal on the table. "What's the matter?"

"I just wanted to talk to you. I wanted to see if something was true; before I get too upset."

"Upset about what dad?" I tried to act shocked.

He took a deep breath before continuing. "I heard a rumor yesterday." I had to stifle a laugh that was exactly what Edward said he would say. I just looked at him, trying to act like I didn't know what the next words out of his mouth would be. "So, they are saying around town that, you and Edward are engaged." He looked up at me, almost pleadingly.

I could tell that he didn't want this to be true. I picked up my hand and showed him the ring. There was no reason not to get this over with. I had made the decision to tell him.

"He asked me yesterday, at lunch, and then Alice and Rosalie took me out for some congratulations shopping. You know Alice; breathing is a good enough reason to go shopping."

"Well you didn't come home with any bags last night, and Edward was the one to drop you off."

"I actually don't remember getting home yesterday, at all. I guess they must have taken everything to their house, then Edward brought me home, we did have his car."

He was looking at me skeptically. He didn't believe me, like I would lie about this. "Why are you doing this?" He asked so quietly that I almost didn't hear him.

"What do you mean?" I asked in a hurt voice, I never could hide my emotions.

"You are far too young to be getting married. And he is obviously extremely immature if he needs to marry you in order to stay with you. If that is the case he obviously does not love you Bella."

"Dad," I said through clenched teeth. "Don't do this." The tears were starting to come. "I will say this once, and only once, Edward loves me, I love Edward, if you can not be happy for me than fine. I told you, it is up to you. If you cannot accept our love; than I will have to leave," the tears were now streaming down my face. I could only hope that Edward had not gotten back yet, he did not need to hear this.

"Bella," Charlie said, clearly trying to calm me. "I love you, you know that. But I can not just sit by and watch you throw your life away for some guy. Please reconsider, if he really does love you, he will wait."

"But why should he, I love him," I took a couple deep, calming breaths, and then I let Charlie have it. "Dad, I love you, but when you get home tonight, I will not be here," I got up and walked out of the kitchen. I walked down the hall and grabbed my coat and bag as I walked out the door.

To my utter horror, Edward was leaning against the front of the Volvo, which was parked next to the cruiser. I walked up to him slowly, as I approached him; he pulled me into a loving embrace. "Give him time." Edward whispered in my ear, as he gently rubbed my back. "You have just come back into his life, and now I am taking you away again. He really doesn't want to lose you again, and he really doesn't like me, but with good reason."

"That is alright. This makes things easier," I sniffed.

"Are you going to be okay? If you want, we can blow off today, and just go to the house?"

"No, school might help me get my mind off of Charlie," I smiled up at him, noticing that his eyes looked pained.

"We need to go; he is getting ready to come out." Edward said as he helped me into the Volvo. Then we sped away from the house faster than we had ever gone before. After we got a couple of streets away we slowed to a more normal pace, well Edward normal anyway.

We got to the school with ten minutes to spare. We sat silently in the car for a couple of minutes. I was trying to calm my nerves. I didn't want anyone to see me get out of the car like this; it might give people the wrong impression.

Alice was suddenly in the back seat. "Bella, honey, I am so sorry. If you want..." She hesitated "I can call the guys if you would like, and they can get your stuff from the house, that way you won't have to go back."

I knew that she was just trying to comfort me. But I couldn't always have the Cullen's cleaning up my messes. "That is okay, I will take care of it later," I said dully.

"It isn't like they have anything to do today," Alice answered back as she pulled her tiny silver cell phone from her pocket and dialed a quick number. She talked quick and low, and then looked up at me. "It is all taken care of. If you want, you can think of something to write to Charlie, and I can deliver your letter to the house after school.

"Thank you Alice," I said.

"We need to get to English class," Alice said as she opened the back door.

"We can still blow the day off if you want," Edward said quickly. He had been so quiet for the last ten minutes, that I had a quick flash of worry.

When we got to class and sat down I turned to Edward. "I may not be a mind reader, but I have a pretty good idea about what you are thinking. And this is most definitely not your fault Edward. It was bound to happen, and like I said. This will make things easier for us, once I am changed."

"Bella, this is completely my fault. This is how it always works. I do something stupid and impulsive, and you get hurt. It may not be physical pain this time, but it is still pain all the same, all because I had to show up Newton."

"I knew that was why you proposed yesterday," I laughed bitterly.

"That is beside the point at the moment," he was getting frustrated now. I had to find a way to calm him down.

Class finally ended and we walked quickly to government. I couldn't help but think about those quiet days before he left. It made a shiver run down my spine. I quickly grabbed Edward's arm and squeezed it. "You have to snap out of this. See, I am fine, you are fine, and we are happy and together. And you should really know by now, that all I need in this world, is you, Edward."

He smiled down at me and then took a deep breath. "You are so amazing Bella. Have I told you that?"

"Not today you haven't." He bent down and kissed me quickly.

"I love you, Bella, and I am so sorry that your father has pretty much kicked you out of the house because of me."

"I already told you. This actually makes it easier for when I need to cut him out of my life. You know, since I will never be able to see him again, once I am a vampire; especially since he doesn't want to see me anymore, anyway."

"You know that that is not true." Edward countered.

"Well it is the truth that I am sticking with."


	9. Ch 9: Moving Past The Sorrow

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Nine:**

**Moving Past the Sorrow**

The rest of the day was silent. But, thankfully, it was not the same silence as last time. It rained during lunch so we sat inside today. Edward made me get something to eat, since my fight with Charlie had made me skip breakfast. I was so glad when the day finally came to an end. I should have taken Edward's advice and skipped today.

I walked slowly to Edward's car. Alice was leaning against the front passenger door. "Alice, I am so sorry, I completely forgot. Here, just give me a minute." I pulled a notebook out of my backpack and tossed it into the back seat. Then I sat in the front seat and wrote out my letter to Charlie. I decided that, since I hadn't thought about the letter all day, I would just write my feelings.

**Dad**, I wrote

**I am so sorry that things turned out this way. I have never meant to hurt you. But I guess I am more like mom than I realized. I do love you. But I can not choose you over the love of my life. I know that you do not believe our love to be so profound, but it is. I wish that I had the time, or the words, to explain this to you. But I am afraid it would take an eternity to do so. I hope that one day you will be able to forgive me. But I am afraid, that I would not have the heart to come back and find out. Because, truth be told, I would rather die, than see the look I saw in your eyes this morning, ever again.**

**I Will Always Love You,**

**Bella**

I read back the letter to myself, and it dawned on me then, I really do owe Edward for so much. He has made me stronger, braver, and given me the power to finally express my feelings. And Charlie wanted to take him away from me. I could not live through that again.

I folded the letter into thirds and handed it to Alice. "Thank you so much for doing this for me," Edward wiped the tears from my face and pulled me to his chest.

"We will see you at home Alice," Edward said softly as she turned to leave.

"We should go," I said pulling myself back upright. Edward started the car and took off. He put his hand on the back of my neck, rubbing the side of it with his thumb.

When we got to the house, Edward picked me up out of the car and ran me straight to his room. He laid me on the couch and put a soothing CD on. Then he came and sat on the couch, laying my head on his lap.

"I am so sorry, Edward," I said softly

"What in the world are you apologizing for?"

"I should be happy, but, I can't stop crying," he wiped my tears away again. I grabbed his hand and kissed his palm. "I love you."

"Believe me, I know, and I love you, too."

We lapsed back into silence, and eventually, I fell asleep.

I woke up and looked around. Edward was nowhere to be found. So I got up and walked to his bathroom. I brushed my teeth and washed my face, as it was so sticky from all the tears. I then started to go downstairs, to see who was home. I didn't even make it to the second floor, before Alice was at my side.

"What are you doing out of bed?" she asked worriedly

"Where is Edward?" I asked, ignoring her question.

"He is hunting. Now go back to bed," she was now pulling me back up to Edward's room.

"Alice, why does this always happen? Every time things are going good, something always comes along to kill the joy. I am supposed to be happy. I am engaged to the most wonderful man on this planet. I just know that he is thinking that I am having second thoughts. But I most definitely am not, if anything, this new development, just makes me want to get married quicker. But I am afraid that if I tell Edward that. He will think that it is just so that I will forget. But it most certainly is not. I just really want to be with him."

"Bella, would you please relax? Things will calm down in a couple of days. So don't give up on Charlie, okay?"

"If you please, don't say that name anymore. Well, for a little while, at least. I think I want to focus on my joy for now, I have had enough pain. I am going to put it out of my mind. And you should know by now, your family, is more than enough for me. I still don't know how I got lucky enough to find you."

"Bella we love you too, and we are so glad that you are going to join the family. But, if you do not go back to bed, Edward is going to kill me." She gave me a kiss, then she started the CD over, before she left.

I lay on the couch and stared at nothing, for who knows how long, Edward was suddenly in front of me, his liquid topaz eyes looking sad. "Bella, my love, why are you awake? You really should get your rest. We graduate in a few days, you need your rest.

"Edward?"

"Yes, Bella?" he asked.

"Never mind, I love you."

"Don't do that Bella, it drives me crazy. You can not start to ask me a question, and then say 'never mind'."

"I was just going to ask if ... If we could blow off school today. But I thought about it, I still need to go with Alice today to get the tuxedos. I might as well go to school first."

"We can do whatever you want Bella. You should already know that."

At his words I sat up on the couch. "What are you doing?" he sounded almost alarmed, I smiled.

"Well, you said that we can do whatever I want." He looked almost stricken now. "What I want, at this moment, is to be in your arms."

The alarm faded from his beautiful features and he smiled his crooked smile. Then he sat on the couch, pulling me onto his lap, wrapping his arms around me securely.

"I am sorry that you are feeling so stressed," I tried to protest but he cut me off. "Jasper told me, so don't even try to deny it. This week should have been a breeze for you. It has been anything but, and I am so sorry for that. But it is almost over. And then we will be together, forever."

I smiled at that. If I knew anything about Alice and Rosalie, I knew that they knew how to plan a wedding. I would leave it to them, though they were probably already done with everything. They want this almost as much as I do. Well, I know Alice does, at least.

"I think I am going to take a shower. They always help to calm me."

"Okay, I will be downstairs," Edward said as he kissed my neck.

"You need to stop cheating like that."

"What did I do now?" he asked, trying to look innocent.

"Don't act innocent," I smiled at him. "You know that when you do things like that, it makes it impossible for me to leave your arms."

"You mean, like this?" He said as he bent down to kiss the hollow of my throat. Then he moved up my neck to my cheek, he stopped just long enough to turn my head slightly. As his lips came crashing into mine, I lost all thought.

When he pulled back, as usual, I was hyperventilating. He smiled as he put one hand over my heart. Then his smile started to fade and a sad look came into his eyes.

"What is the matter?" I asked, putting my hand on his cheek.

"This is something I will miss," he said softly.

"What do you mean?"

"Your heart, trying to jump out of your ribcage every time we kiss," he said with a smile.

"Oh! Well, I am sure that it will still manage to act that way, because I want nobody's kiss', but yours."

I gave him another quick kiss and jumped off of his lap. I really did need a shower, but I was in danger of being dazzled into staying in his arms forever. Though, that was far from a bad idea.


	10. Ch 10: The End of Shopping

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Ten:**

**The End of Shopping**

Just as I was turning off the water, there was a soft knock on the bathroom door.

"Who is it?"

"Alice."

I wrapped a towel around myself and opened the door for her. She came in holding what looked like a down comforter.

"Here, put this on and follow me," she said as she handed it to me. It turned out to be a soft white robe. I wrapped the towel around my hair, pulled on my bra and underwear, and wrapped the robe around myself, it smelled just like Alice.

We walked to her room, where I saw Rosalie waiting for us. "We have decided that you need a girl's day out. You, Alice, and I are going to blow off school today. So here, put this on. Then we will do your hair and makeup," Rosalie then tossed me a light green dress with baby blue patterns on it.

I went into Alice's bathroom and pulled the dress on. It always amazed me, that the clothes they found for me, always made me look so beautiful. The door opened as I was examining myself in the mirror.

Rosalie walked in with her trusty hot rollers and a blow dryer. Alice started looking through the makeup on the counter. And then they got down to business.

Forty-five minutes later, I walked out of Alice's bathroom. I didn't recognize myself. I knew that Edward would like the dress. It was very fitting to my mid thigh, where it flared out, to end at my knees. The shoes they picked out were a basic black. Thankfully the heels weren't too high.

Once I was set, Alice grabbed my hand and walked me downstairs. Edward and Emmett were sitting on a couch in the living room. They were playing some video game. At our approach they both looked towards the stairs. Emmett gave me a low whistle. Edward elbowed him in the ribs and was at my side in a flash.

"You look gorgeous," I blushed and tripped on the last stair. Edward caught and steadied me. He was looking deep in my eyes, which made me go a deeper shade of red. I could hear Emmett chuckling in the background. I gave him the most menacing look I could. This only made him laugh harder. I decided that it was in my best interest to let it be.

"So what will you be doing today?" Edward asked "It is obvious that you are not dressed to go to school."

"We are going to get your tuxedos," Alice answered

"So what am I supposed to do while you are gone, all day? You know I will go crazy within the first hour." Edward asked me, I blushed again and he gave me a swift kiss.

"Well, you have Emmett and Jasper. Have some brother bonding time, while we have some sister bonding time," I said quickly. He always told me that he never wanted to be away from me. But something about him saying it like that, in front of everyone, made me realize how much he really did mean it.

"Come on Rosalie, we have a little more time to get to Seattle today, but we still have things to do," Alice called as she pulled me towards the door.

"I love you," I called to Edward

"I love you, too," he replied

Once we were on the road I asked Alice, "So, are the tuxedos all that is on our agenda for today?"

"No, but you will just have to have some patients. That is all that is on your agenda for the day."

"I really, really hate surprises. You all know that, Alice."

"But I think you will like this surprise," she said as she peeked at me through the rear view mirror. "At least I think I saw you with a smile on your face."

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked her skeptically. I hadn't missed the subtle vision chide. But what did she mean by; she thought I had a smile. I let it go. It really was not worth the headache I knew I would get.

The first thing that Alice did when we got to Seattle was get me something to eat. We stopped at Chipotle and I got some soft shell tacos and a bottle of water. I ate as we walked around for a little while. Then we came to a men's formal wear shop. Alice pulled me inside with a huge grin, I was almost frightened.

When we got into the store I was blown away. I never knew that there could be so many types of tuxedos. Alice didn't stop until we got to the counter at the back of the store.

"I called ahead," she told the woman at the counter. "Cullen is the name."

"Yes ma'am," The woman said "We have everything all set up for you. Please, right this way." She started to walk away from the counter. Alice followed pulling me behind. I had just noticed that Rosalie was not with us.

"Here you go ma'am, let me know what you think," she said pulling a curtain to the side and ushering us into a small room.

We walked in and my jaw dropped. There were four mannequins in the room. They all had a different build, to match the guys, and on each one was a perfectly corresponding tuxedo.

There was going to be no way to thank Alice enough. She was making sure that my dream wedding came true, and so far, it was completely perfect.

Alice looked the tuxedos over and wrote some things down on a piece of paper. Then she went to the woman and told her that they would be perfect with the tiny modifications she had written down. The woman nodded and took the paper. She looked it over and told Alice that it wouldn't take long to make the adjustments. We would be able to pick them up by 6:00 on Friday evening. Alice said that she would be back then, and we left.

"Alice?" I asked when we got outside. "Where is Rosalie?"

"She had some things she needed to get. She will meet us at the car in a couple of hours."

"Okay," I said. What else could there be, though. I wanted this simple, and they knew that. What were they sneaking in now? My worry increased, maybe Alice was covering for Rosalie, and maybe she still didn't want to be near me.

"So, as you can see, everything is falling into place. We will have everything by Friday. All we need from you is a date. If we are doing this in the meadow, then we can have the wedding as soon as Sunday."

"That soon?!" I asked, not being able to hide my slight fear.

"Well, actually, we would be able to do it Saturday afternoon. But I thought you would like just one day as a true adult woman. You know, being out of high school finally, and all that," Alice giggled, and it calmed me some.

"Won't I have to discuss this with Edward first?" I asked, trying to side step the mine field.

"Like I said before, knowing my brother, he will want it to be on Friday; as soon as the clothes are at the house." She laughed again, I smiled at that. I knew he wanted this, but I was finally realizing just how badly he wants it. Alice wouldn't say something like that if it wasn't true.

"Sunday sounds good..." I hesitated, and Alice arched one perfect brow.

"What is it Bella?"

I took a deep breath and said what I had been thinking about for as long as I knew Edward was a vampire. "He talks to you all the time. Has he said anything," I couldn't find the right words to articulate this properly. So I just let the question come out. "Is he going to change me after words?"

"Yes," she answered simply.

"Are you sure?"

"Bella, I am going to tell you something. But this has to stay between the two of us. He told me in the strictest confidence."

"I promise."

"You know that he would do anything for you and even though he never wanted to change you. A small part of him has always wanted this. At this point he would do it tomorrow. But he wants you to at least have a human wedding. That is one thing that he has always wanted for you.

"It pained him, to think of any other man being your groom. But, you know how masochistic he can be. He is saddened by the fact that you will never be able to even experience motherhood. He has even pictured you as a mother. We all know that you would make a great mother," she trailed off there, so I jumped in.

"Alice, he has never said any of this before."

"He's afraid, that if he brings it up, you will finally realize what you are giving up, then you will leave him."

"One thing that he has told me, over and over again is that I am unlike any other human girl my age. He really should realize that that carries into every aspect of my being. I don't want kids. Like I said before, I have never pictured myself getting married, well, until now," I smiled widely and continued. "And I definitely never thought of having kids. That desire has never been there. When will he realize that he is stuck with me, for all eternity?"

Alice laughed. "I knew this was a conversation that you two needed to have. Maybe you should talk to him when we get home."

"But, you said that he told you in confidence. I don't want to get you in trouble."

"Bella, you know, your selflessness is really impeccable, but this is too important. Besides, I think he will be relieved once he hears what you have to say."

"I will think about it then. But, I really don't want to spoil his good mood, I like him this way."

"Good, as long as you will think about it. Did everything go as planed?" Alice said as she looked up. I was caught off guard by her question. Then I followed her gaze and noticed that she was talking to Rosalie. I was so lost in our conversation that I didn't even realize we were headed back to the car.

"Yes," Rosalie said with a grin. "Everything will be delivered tomorrow."

"Good, then we can go home. Bella, you need some food first. Let's go in here," Alice grabbed my hand and pulled me into the nearest restaurant. It was Hard Rock Café; I got a burger with onion rings and a Pepsi, since they didn't have coke.

When I was done we left to head home, and it truly was my home now, even though it had always felt that way. I was glad to be going home. I really missed Edward. I was so glad that all the wedding shopping was done. Now I just had to sit back and wait for the big day; only four more days until I become Mrs. Isabella Marie Cullen.


	11. Ch 11: Gifts

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Eleven:**

**Gifts**

The ride home seemed to take no time at all. I suspect it had to do with the fact that I was so lost in thought. Alice had said some things, that I could not fathom coming from Edward. I knew that he felt that he was taking me from a human existence. But, did he really not know me, that much.

Then again, I guess kids were not a subject that we would ever talk about. But, did he really not realize that that was never a fork in my road. I knew that what Alice said was true. He wanted me to have all normal human experiences. So I was going to have to talk to Edward. Alice said that things would be okay. I wouldn't want her to get into trouble for telling me this.

"What are you thinking about so hard?"

"Edward!" I jumped as I realized that he was sitting beside me. "Where did you come from?"

"I have been sitting here for five minutes. What is the matter, Bella?"

"Can we go for a drive? I don't think that we want to be overheard."

"Of Coarse," There was worry in his beautiful eyes. In an attempt to reassure him I smiled and kissed his cheek. He picked me up and placed me in the Volvo. He did not look placated, in the least.

"So, where are we off to?" He asked as he wound down the driveway.

"Just drive, we aren't headed anywhere. We just need some privacy." I had to find the right way to say this. And I would have to make sure that Alice would not get into trouble. As we drove down the highway I watched the forest pass us by. We stopped on a cliff face, overlooking the ocean. It was a breathtaking sight.

"Bella, please tell me what is the matter." Edward pleaded

"First, I need you to make me a promise." I said taking my eyes off of the oceans calming waves. Edward's eyes were so sad and worried. I told myself that that look would be gone soon, never to return.

"Promise what exactly?"

"That you will not be mad at Alice,"

"What did she do now?" He was completely unsuccessful at hiding his rage.

"Nothing bad, just promise, please."

"Fine, she is safe." He growled.

"Thank you, Edward." I took a deep breath and started. "As you know, we went to get the tuxedos today." He nodded his head. "Well, on our way back to the car we were talking about setting a date. And Alice let something slip. No, that isn't true. I pulled something out of her. I am so sorry, but, you know me. I have a one track mind. So I forced her to tell me."

"Bella, you are rambling. What is going on?"

"She told me that you won't change me until after the wedding, because you want me to have a human wedding; and that, you are sad, about the fact that we can never have children. So I told her that you are crazy. You always talk about me being different than all the other human teenagers. But, you don't realize that this is one of the items that falls into that category?" I said this as fast as possible to make sure I got it all out without any interruptions. Then I took another deep breath and looked into Edward's eyes.

"I can not believe that she told you that." He was stunned, but I couldn't tell if it was completely Alice, or part of my ramble that he was reacting to. "Bella, my love, I have told you many times, that I don't want you to miss out on the human things, that I can not give you. Are children, and a family, really something that you can so easily give up?" He was definitely sad now.

"Edward, you and your family, are all the family I will ever need. And, honestly, have I ever given you reason to believe that I would want to be a mother. I can't believe any of you would think that that is something I could do. I can't even fathom the thought. Edward, would you please finally believe me when I say that I am giving up nothing when I marry you and become a vampire. Nothing! I am, however, getting the world. I wish that you could see it from my point of view. Unfortunately, you will just have to trust me, when I say that you are all I will ever need or want. Your family is just the icing on the cake for me. They complete that package that your love starts."

There was silence for a long time. Edward was facing the ocean, thinking, so I did the same. I hoped with all my might that he would believe my words. That he would realize that I was not just saying this to ease his mind. Though I did want to ease it, I would never do that through subterfuge.

"Bella," I looked at him as he raised his hand to my face, and started stroking my cheek. "You really never cease to amaze me. I will ask you this just once then." He paused for a second, staring into my eyes. "Are you absolutely sure, about all of it? You know that I never want to lose you. But if you do want, all those things that I can never give you, I will let you go."

"Edward, I am so positive, that it hurts my heart to even hear you say those words. I am yours. I have been, since the first time our eyes locked. And I will be, until the world ends."

Edward smiled down at me and pulled me into a passionate kiss. We stayed parked there watching the beautiful setting of the sun. Once the sun was completely gone, and the sky was dark, we headed back home. The trip was silent, but it was a comfortable silence; a silence that spoke volumes of our love for each other, and our relaxation in each other's company.

When we got home Alice was waiting for us on the porch. She had a huge grin on her face. I was momentarily petrified. Edward pulled me from the car and up to the porch. Then he let me go and gave Alice a bone crushing hug, had she been human, it would have killed her.

"Thank you Alice." He said to her.

"I told you that you should have talked to her in the first place. But, now that that is all taken care of, we have some surprises for you two."

"What did you do Alice?" I asked worried, again.

"Well, it is customary to get wedding presents for the happy couple. And since you will not be able to enjoy them until after the change, we thought we would give them to you early."

"What did you get?"

"Come in and find out."

When we entered the house everyone was in the living room. Edward sat down in a plush arm chair and pulled me onto his lap. Carlisle was the first to speak.

"Since I am told that the wedding will be on Sunday." He said almost questioningly. I nodded and Edward gave me his crooked grin. That is when it dawned on me. I had forgotten to tell Edward that I had set the date. "And Edward will be changing you afterwards." Again it was almost questioning. This time Edward nodded and I beamed as he tightened his arm around me. "We have decided to bestow your gifts upon you now." As he finished he stood up and made his way over to us.

He handed me a purple wrapped package. It weighed, maybe five pounds. I handed it to Edward. I didn't want to take any chances. Everyone laughed as I turned red. Edward then handed me back a see-through box with a giant red cross on it. It was a first aid kit. I went a shade redder and the laughter filled the room. "So that you will never be unprepared," Carlisle said as he gave me a hug.

Next Esme came to me with a small rectangular package. I handed it straight to Edward. He pulled off the green paper and handed me back a beautiful book. It had a red satin cover with black flowers embroidered onto it. "It is a diary. As a woman, you have many intrusive thoughts that you can not run away from. This fact is only heightened when you can never sleep. This will help you get your frustrations on page so they are not crowding your mind."

"Thank you both." I said as I gave Esme a hug. As they went to sit Alice bounded forward. She gave me a giant hug and her impish smile, my stomach dropped.

"I am afraid that you will have to wait for my present. It hasn't arrived yet." I groaned and Alice laughed.

Jasper was the next one to get up and come over to us. I was surprised, to say the least, he had been even more hesitant of me since their return. He bent down and gave me a quick hug. I was so happy, and I could tell that Edward and Alice were also. Then he handed me a small envelope and said. "This may come in handy." He then winked as he took his seat again, Alice sitting back next to him.

I opened this one myself. Inside was five little cards, each one a different color. I pulled one out and stared at it for a second. Then I burst out laughing. "Read it out loud." Edward said. He had obviously read it from over my shoulder, for he was shaking the both of us with his laughter. So I read the six tiny words that were typed on the card.

**Get out of shopping free card**

Everyone joined in laughing with Edward and I. Everyone, except Alice of course. She quickly turned and punched Jasper in the arm. "Sorry, my love, but I had to do what I could to save my little sister." I stared at him in shock when he said that. I had always hoped that we could have that kind of relationship, but to know that he desired that too, made me swell with pride. He looked back at me and smiled then winked again. I smiled back at him.

"Our Turn!" Emmett boomed. He and Rosalie got up and walked right past us. "Come on you two. Our gift is already upstairs."

We got up and followed them all the way up to Edward's room. They stopped at the door and turned to look at us. "This is something that we felt you will be needing." Emmett said with a giant grin on his face. Then Rosalie threw open the door.

Inside the room there was now a huge four poster bed. It had thick dark blue curtains and a black comforter. I stared in disbelief. This was the biggest bed I had ever seen in my life. Emmett elbowed Edward in the ribs and said. "It's a king." For some reason, I could not contain myself any longer. I ran from Edward's arms and jumped onto the bed. It bounced me a little before I settled in the direct middle. I laid there with my eyes closed and my hands behind my head.

"Thank you Emmett and Rosalie. This is the most beautiful and most comfortable bed I have ever been on." Suddenly Edward's arms were around me. My eyes shot open and I looked into his. They looked so hungry, and not for my blood. I quickly crushed my lips to his. His hands started to caress my body, as mine caressed his. I only vaguely heard Rosalie say, "We are out of here." as Emmett chuckled and they left.


	12. Ch 12: Something Always Comes Along

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Twelve:**

**Something Always Comes Along**

In the morning I woke to a most beautiful sight. The curtains were pulled closed on all sides, except the one facing the window. The sun was coming up and was just beginning to be lost behind the cloud cover. I smiled as I turned to face Edward.

"Good morning, my dear." He said as he kissed my forehead. "I have a question for you."

"Yes?"

"Did you really think that I would be mad at you for making the wedding on Sunday?"

"Well, not mad, per se, but, I thought that I should ask you before I set the date. Why do you ask?"

"You apologized in your sleep." He said with a soft chuckle.

"I was just so happy that I was going along with what ever Alice said. I am actually glad I did. I think I like the fact of Saturday being my "Goodbye to Humanity" day."

"I am glad you are so happy, my love. We have an hour before school. What would you like to do?"

"Unfortunately, that is completely the wrong question. It isn't what I would like to do. It is what I need to do. And, what I need to do is pull myself from your arms and take a shower."

Edward leaned down and started to kiss me. I used all of my mental strength to pull myself away from him. I grabbed some clothes from the closet and ran into the bathroom. I took a quick shower and got dressed. When I got out Edward was not in the room. I took a second to look out the wall sized window, at the forest and mountains that lay just beyond the house. The Cullen's surely did have their own little piece of heaven here, and soon it would be mine too.

I walked slowly down the stairs to find Edward. I found Edward, Emmett, and Jasper on the couch in the living room, playing a video game. Alice and Rosalie were in the dinning room planning their next shopping trip. I decided that it would be safer with the boys. I sat down in the arm chair farthest from the guys, and watched them demolish each other.

I couldn't figure out what they were playing. How could the object of the game be to wipe out everyone around you? But I didn't say anything; I know nothing about video games, so I just sat back and watched.

"Do you have any idea how distracting you are?" Edward asked me with a playful smile.

"What?" How could I be distracting him? I hadn't said a word. I was just sitting here watching the cars fly off the cliffs and slam into the bypass walls. Before I could blink, Edward was kneeling in front of me. He brushed my hair back from my neck and started to kiss my neck.

"Yup, Sunday can not come fast enough." Emmett laughed out. Edward turned quickly and stared at Emmett. Just then Esme came down the stairs.

"Time for school," She called out to us. I could tell that she had just saved Emmett. He might be big, but, in a fight, my money was on Edward.

I groaned, Edward and Alice were by my side in a second. We each gave Esme a kiss on the cheek before we walked out the door. Edward held my door open for me, then shot over to the driver's side once he had closed it. We were at the school in five minutes, we got out of the car and walked over to the picnic tables outside the lunchroom. The day was perfect, thick clouds, but no rain. We sat and talked until the bell rang for our first hour.

When the bell to start class rang Mr. Berty called us to order. "I will be handing out your yearbooks today. Remember, they are an important part of your young lives. This book is a part of your history. Make sure that you have it signed by every person you know. One reason is because you wouldn't want to forget your high school friends. Another, is because, you never know who's signature is going to come in handy, later in life." He trailed off for a moment, deep in thought. "Anyway, come up and get your yearbooks."

Everyone lined up to get their book. The rest of the hour was spent signing books, and planning parties for tomorrow night. I sat in the back of the room with Edward; both of us just happy for the moment of peace in school. When the bell rang we walked to government. It passed uneventful. It wasn't until math that I finally got the urge to get my book signed, just so I could sign someone else's. I took my book over to Jessica, with a friendly smile on my face.

"Wanna sign each other's books?" I asked pleasantly.

"Sure, I guess so." She took my book and wrote nothing more than her signature next to her picture. I, on the other hand, was not going to miss this opportunity.

**Jessica, **I wrote

**I am sorry that I was not as good of a friend as you deserved. It was wrong of me to **

**steal your crush, even if I did it unknowingly. And it isn't like he liked you anyway. I** **hope you can forgive me some day.**

**Bella**

I closed the book and handed it back to her, and then I walked back to my seat. I watched Jessica as she found the page that my note was on, and read it. When she was finished her face was as red as mine usually is. I was glad, for a second that Edward was not here. I didn't think that he would like this little mean streak.

"Did you really write that?" Edward asked as he wrapped his arm around my waist, when he met me after class. I really should have known that he would be listening.

"Yes." I said looking him straight in the eyes. I was surprised to see his eyes dancing with delight. I suddenly got the feeling that he didn't like Jessica very much.

Edward kissed the top of my head and laughed as we entered our Spanish class. Once again Edward and I just sat in the back of the class, waiting for lunch, or the end of the day. We spent most of the hour talking about plans for Saturday. We hadn't been able to think of anything that we agreed to do for my "Goodbye to Humanity" day. But we knew the meadow was out. Alice and Rosalie would be setting it up for the wedding. So, come the end of class, we still had no idea what we would be doing.

When we got to lunch I swapped yearbooks with Angela and Ben. I wished them both the best, and told them that, after we were married, Edward and I would probably be leaving Forks. I got there numbers and told them that I would try to stay in touch. I really hated lying to them. They were really the only ones that I still counted as friends.

When lunch was over, and we were in biology, we went back to speculating about Saturday. We still hadn't gotten anywhere when the bell rang. _Gym will be fine today_. I told myself. The graduation tomorrow would be held in the gymnasium. So we wouldn't be able to do anything but sit around and talk; when I had taken a seat on the bleachers, as close to the door as I could get, Mike came over to me and sat down.

I was kind of worried for a moment. We hadn't really talked in a while. When Mike turned to face me I saw a huge smile lighting his features. "Can I sign your yearbook, Bella?" He asked me. "I noticed that you weren't really doing the signing thing. But, if you want, you can sign mine." I could tell that he really wanted me to. But what would I say. _Goodbye Mike and Good Riddance?_ No, too mean. _Better luck next time_. That wouldn't work either. _Lose the delusional faith, before you end up alone._ That just wasn't right either.

I took his book and handed him mine. Then I flipped to the back cover, hopping that mine would get lost in the sea of notes. I decided on something short, but, still friendly.

**Mike, **I wrote

**I hope you reach all your goals in life. Bella**

It was really the only nice thing I could think to write for him. When I went to give him back his book he was still writing in mine. I was getting worried. He finally finished and handed me back my book.

"Well, Bella, I guess I will see you around." He gave me a halfhearted smile.

"You never know." I said back to him. Then Mike got up and went to join a large group of people all swapping yearbooks. I just really wanted the end of the day. I wanted to be back in Edward's arms.

When the final bell, finally, rang I jumped up and ran to the door. I was completely surprised that I hadn't tripped at all. I threw open the door and was greeted by my very own Greek God. Edward wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead. I leaned into him as we walked to the Volvo.

"We are no longer High School students." I said proudly

"That isn't official until tomorrow." Edward countered, as he smiled and opened the door for me.

"Well, I will enjoy sleeping in tomorrow; since we don't have to be back here until noon."

"What time would you like me to wake you up then?" Edward asked

"How about noon?" I teased

Edward leaned over and kissed my neck. "How about ten?"

"If you must," I breathed heavily.

Edward pulled my hair playfully then started the engine. When we got home Alice opened the door for me and hugged me tightly.

"What was that for, Alice?"

"Just remember that we love you." Now I was panicking, Edward came around the car and stood by my side. "Calm down Bella. I didn't mean to alarm you. I just wanted you to know that this will always be your home. But, Charlie will be at graduation tomorrow, with Renee. All I saw was that there will be a heated discussion. I didn't see the outcome, but, they are going to try to get you to go back to Charlie's."

I held onto Edward tightly. _Not again _I thought, _I was happy today, why now? I guess I will just have to deal with them tomorrow._ I wasn't going to let them ruin a perfectly good day.

"Thank you, Alice. For telling me, but we are going up stairs now." I grabbed Edward's hand and started towards the house. He followed silently, all the way up to his room.

"What are you thinking?" He asked once we were settled on the couch.

"That I do not want to think about this until tomorrow. So please, Edward, let's just keep the day nice. I will deal with my parents tomorrow, at graduation. And, no matter what you are thinking, this is not your fault. And, just so that you know, I am not going to change my mind. You should know that by now. I will be marrying you on Sunday. And then you will be stuck with me for the rest of eternity."

"I would like nothing more." He said as he bent down to kiss me.

My eyes, of completely there own accord, flicked to the big, soft, warm bed, just five little feet away from us. I wasn't sure if Edward caught me, or if he was just thinking the same thing as me at the moment. But, suddenly, I found myself being lifted from the couch and placed on the bed. Edward kept kissing my face and neck as he moved us.

I was not sure how long we lay there kissing each other, nor did I care. But I did care when Edward suddenly stopped us. He moved to the far end of the bed. I could see that he was breathing hard, and his eyes were shut tight. I watched him quietly. Knowing that soon would come the apology that always followed this much passion shown. As our breathing slowed he slowly opened his eyes. I could see that they were still lightening. We had gone dangerously far. I truly felt bad for pushing him, but, I had to remind myself that he would change me on Sunday. Then we would never have to hold back again.

I waited for his eyes to be a warm golden color before I spoke. "I am sorry Edward. But, to my defense, you are completely irresistible." I smiled at him, hopping that would work and he wouldn't turn masochistic. To my delight, he smiled back at me.

"I could say the same of you." He chuckled as he kissed my neck. A shiver ran down my spine as he ran his hand down my side, and leaned into me again.

"Okay ... We need ... to stop." I breathed between kisses. I knew that he could hear the reluctance in my voice. I really didn't want to stop any more than he did. I tried to cast my mind around for something to distract us both. But I couldn't unscramble my brain long enough. Then there was a soft knock on the door.

"Come in." Well that would work. Alice came in smiling, which made me go red, which made Edward smile, which made me a darker red. "What can we do for you, Alice?" Edward asked her.

"I believe it is what I can do for you, actually." She must have had another vision.

"Okay Alice, I'll bite, what can you do for us?"

"I can take Bella to go and get something to eat. And you can go hunting with Jasper." She had a smile on her face that told me that this was only what she wanted me to hear. I was sure that she was telling Edward something more. I would have to see if he would tell me later.

"Sounds good to me," Edward said as he gave me a quick kiss on the forehead and walked toward Alice. He turned as he got to the door. "I will see you in the morning Bella. I love you."

"I love you, too, Edward. Have fun with Jasper." I told myself that that must have been it. Jasper would have to make sure he fed well tonight. That way he would be fine at the graduation tomorrow. However, now I was stuck with Alice. I was beginning to hope that this wasn't just a ploy to kidnap me and take me shopping again. "So, Alice," I began. "Where are we going for dinner?"

"First I need you to come with me." She said as she flashed me an innocent smile. I so did not trust her.

"Where are we going?"

"To Carlisle and Esme's room, come on Bella."

I felt a little better about this now. Esme was motherly she would want me to get my rest for tomorrow. She wouldn't let Alice kidnap me. I hoped. We walked down the stairs to the second floor and down the hall to Carlisle and Esme's room. Alice knocked twice then entered, pulling me in with her. As we entered I felt immediately trapped. Inside the room I saw Esme and Rosalie sitting on the bed. There was a large stack of packages on the bed between them.

"What did you do now?" I asked, my voice cracking in panic.

"This is part of my present to you. We are having a bachelorette party for you. It will be fun, you'll see. I groaned as Alice pulled me farther into the room. We sat on the couch that was situated across from the bed. Esme and Rosalie smiled at me, they had trapped me good. I couldn't believe that Esme helped them, it was so... un-motherly. But, I guess it was a friend's gesture that made me smile, in spite of myself.

"So, what does one do at a bachelorette party?" I asked them

"I can tell you what we are going to be doing at yours." Rosalie said "First we are going to play 20 questions. Then we will be playing truth or dare. Ending with a lovely scavenger hunt that Alice has planned for you."

"I can't wait." I said, each word dripping with sarcasm. "But, I still do need dinner." I thought I found an opening to escape. "So how about we postpone this for ... I don't know, forever, I mean an hour. So I can go get something to eat."

"Nice try Bella." Esme said. "I will be right back." She then bolted from the room. When she came back she had a Chinese to go box and two bottles of water in her hand. I sighed then laughed, they were always two steps ahead of me.

"Okay," Alice said. "Here are the rules for 20 questions. We will be taking turns asking you questions. I hope you will be keeping track, because you know we will not be. And the object of this game is to see how much we can get out of you with Edward not around." Man they could really be evil when they wanted to be. "So who has the first question?"

"I do." Rosalie said


	13. Ch 13: Night of A Thousand Blushes

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Thirteen:**

**Night of A Thousand Blushes**

Rosalie got an evil look on her face, and then hesitated. "No, I think I will save that question for later. Okay, Bella, here is one I want answered. Why do you want this so badly? I still don't understand how you could choose a non-life existence?"

I just stared at her for a moment. Then, when my voice came back to me and I was able to answer her, I said. "Well, Rosalie, all I can say is ... Edward. You may not agree with me, but, he is my life. I would never be able to live through losing him again. And I would never want to put him through the pain of losing me, should I die. This is the only way for us to fulfill our need of each other, and complete ourselves. That is the only way I can think to put it."

I noticed that Alice was staring at me open mouthed. And Esme was looking at Rosalie as if she had said something wrong. I had to correct that thought. "Esme, it is okay. I want everyone to be sure that they want me around. And if, in order to do this, I must explain this to Rosalie everyday, I will."

"That won't be necessary." Rosalie stated with a small smile.

"Thank you Rosalie." I said relieved, maybe things would finally be alright between us. "So who is next?" I asked to change the subject.

"I have an important question for you." Esme said with a smile. "Have you given any recent thought to college?"

I should have known that it would be the motherly Esme to ask about school. It was obvious from the looks on Alice and Rosalie's faces that they felt that this was a wasted question. I gladly answered it. I knew the girls were going to do there best, in Emmett's absence, to make me blush as much as possible. "Yes, as a matter of fact I have." To my surprise, I managed to blush. I guess it was from the thought of Sunday afternoon when Edward and I had talked about college. "Edward and I were talking about college just the other day. I told him that I was thinking about possibly studying literature."

"That is a wonderful idea Bella, dear." Esme retorted

"My turn!" Alice nearly shouted, bouncing on the couch next to me. "When you look at Edward, what drives you the wildest?" Her eyes were shinny and she had a wide smile on her face. I went immediately red. I knew it.

"I would have to say his eyes, hands down."

"Where do you dream about, when you dream of traveling?" Esme asked

"Well, when I was in Phoenix, I thought of places like Hawaii and Cancun. Now I tend to think about places like Alaska or Antarctica, anywhere that I can be out in the open with Edward. Or anyplace I can have him all to myself." I could feel the blush creep back up my face, making Alice chuckle.

"I promised Emmett that I would ask you this." I didn't like how that sounded. This was sure to be an embarrassing question. "What is the first thing you want to do, once you are changed?"

"I never really thought that far ahead, give me a second." I took a moment to think about that. I would be able to do so much once I was changed. But what was the first thing I wanted to do once I finished the transformation? All of the sudden a picture of Edward laying on my bed with no shirt on shot into my mind, I knew I was beet red, I could feel the heat in my head. I tried to cover my face, but Alice grabbed my hand.

"Well, I guess we know." Alice said with her wind chime laugh. "Okay, I have another one. How often do you dream about Edward?"

Well, I guess that wasn't such a hard question to answer. "I guess, every night." I was wrong, dead wrong. Saying aloud, what I knew to be true in my head brought the not completely dissipated blush back. I wish they would move on to another topic already, fat chance though.

"How often do you daydream about Edward?" Rosalie asked with a wicked grin.

"All the time," I said rolling my eyes.

"What is the least amount of clothes you have seen Edward in?" Wow, Alice could really hit below the belt when she wanted to.

"I saw him with no shirt in Volterra."

"That's it!" Rosalie said in disbelief "Well then, what's the least amount of clothes he has seen you in?"

It took less than a second for my head to get so hot that I thought it was going to explode. "To tell you the truth ..." Alice and Rosalie's smiles were so wide and wicked I instantly thought of running. "Technically, none," then I added quickly. "But I had a towel on." They both started laughing hysterically.

Thankfully, Esme chimed in at that moment to calm the situation. "You will stay with the family, after the wedding, right?" She sounded almost pleading. I wondered where that question came from. But thankfully it made Alice and Rosalie stop laughing.

"Well, we have never talked about that. But, I see no reason why we wouldn't. I would miss you all terribly if we left you." I said with a smile.

"I feel the same way, my dear." Esme said returning my smile.

There was then a moment of silence, that Alice was only too happy to break. "Okay, be honest, when does Edward frustrate you the most?"

I didn't even give myself time to think. "When he enforces his "Bella Safety Rules"," I said with another blush.

"So, if it were up to you, would you still be a virgin?" Rosalie was kind enough to ask.

"NO!" I said pointedly, then added. "And neither would Edward." I figured that if I was going down in flames, I was going to bring him along with me.

The girls started to laugh hard now. Esme once again chimed in to calm the situation. "Besides the meadow, where is the most romantic place Edward has ever taken you?"

"Well, I guess, when he takes me out to dinner he usually takes me to romantic restaurants. But, really, the most romantic place we spend our time is in each other's rooms. That is where we usually just hold each other and talk. So maybe that is the most intimate not romantic, I don't know." I trailed off, not knowing how to articulate that thought properly, and wishing that my most recent blush would subside.

"What did you two do in the meadow anyway?" Rosalie asked.

"Talked," That was all I was going to say about that. I think they figured that out, because Alice asked another question.

"What was the first thing you thought when you saw Edward in the sun?"

"How was it possible for him to be even more beautiful and God-like?" I blushed to reveal that.

I looked up at Alice and she looked back at me. Her eyes lit up and she grabbed my arm. I was a little worried now. "If you get a power, what do you want it to be?"

"I don't really know. Edward had told me that your gifts were something you already had from your human lives. Your strongest character, he said, and they were enhanced. The only talent I have is to attract danger. And I definitely don't that enhanced."

All three of them started laughing at that. I had to join in. It really was funny, to think that I would get a power.

Rosalie was still laughing, so Alice asked another. "Where do you want to go on your honeymoon?"

Yet another question we hadn't yet talked about. I think I figured out what we will be doing on Saturday. "Give me a moment." I said quickly so that I could think. Knowing Edward, he would want to take me somewhere where he could lavish me in expensive things. But I didn't want that, and he knew it. I just wanted to be lavished in his presence. But where can that really be achieved. "I don't know ... maybe some deserted island somewhere. Do you think he would be willing to go to Antarctica?"

Alice then started to laugh hysterically again. Rosalie then threw in. "How long do you want your honeymoon to be, anyway?" Only Rosalie could ask that. No, that wasn't true Emmett would ask that also, she must be channeling him in his absence.

"I suppose, as long as we can stand to be away from the family, and home."

"It's been nice knowing you." Rosalie said. We all started to laugh.

"Are you planning on seeing the sights, where ever you go?" Alice asked

"Sure, if we don't end up in Antarctica." I smiled and Alice laughed again. "There is only one question left." I said with relief.

"I think I will hold on to that one for later." Esme said giving me a smile.

"That means it is time for Truth or Dare." Alice said happily "You can go first Bella."

This could turn out so many ways of bad. I had to think of some really good questions. They were bound to have played this before. And I would have to stick to truth. How much worse could their questions get. There was no way I was going to let them dare me. Who knows what their vast years of experience have given them ideas of? There was no way I was going to trust them with a dare. But, who was I going to start with?


	14. Ch 14: Truth? or Dare?

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Fourteen:**

**Truth? Or Dare?**

"Rosalie." I smiled broadly at her. "Truth or dare?" I asked, hoping that I wouldn't have to come up with a dare.

"Truth," She replied nonchalantly. Great, she answered too quickly, I still didn't have a question. I decided that I would just ask her something that they had asked me.

"Have you ever actually seen Europe?"

Her smile took over her face as two things became evident. One, that that was not too embarrassing for her to answer; and two, that she was now remembering her honeymoons in Europe. She really did have such a lovely smile. I hoped to see it more often, since she seemed to not hate me anymore.

"When I've gone with the family," She answered. I was about to protest to the fact that that wasn't the answer to my question. Then I thought about what she said. When it finally hit me, I went a deep shade of red again. Alice was obviously getting a huge kick out of tonight.

"Alice, truth or dare?" Rosalie asked her, making her stop laughing and snap her head in Rosalie's direction.

"Truth." she said after a moment of silence.

"Where is your favorite place to go with Jasper?"

"The ocean," She answered without hesitation. "We like to watch the moon play on the waves. And I love to just listen, as he recites long forgotten poetry." Alice got lost in her thoughts of Jasper for a second. Then her eyes snapped up to Esme. "Esme, truth or dare?" She said with a mischievous grin.

"Truth."

"Okay then, what is the most romantic thing Carlisle has ever said to you?"

Esme thought for a second. But it looked more like she was deciding whether or not she was going to answer the question. Then she got up and walked over to her closet. She was back in her seat in a second, holding a bright green ledger. She looked at the ledger than around at the three of us.

"When Carlisle first changed me, it was a little difficult at first to process. Here was the man that I had secretly loved for ten years. And he was telling me that he was a vampire, and that had turned me, so that I would not die. I have no doubt that it was due to Charles' violence that I was so hesitant of Carlisle at first. Once I got to really know him though, my love for him only grew. And once we realized that we were in love with each other, nothing could separate us."

"One day I came home from spending some time at a local park, Carlisle and Edward were off for the afternoon. I found a note on the table waiting for me. I was a little worried at first, but I picked up the note and read it." Esme than opened the ledger and pulled out a piece of paper. She looked down at it with a light in her eyes. If she could cry, I was sure she would be crying right now. "This is what it says."

**Let this be our Destiny,**

**To begin each new day together,**

**To share our lives forever,**

**How beautiful is life when shared,**

**With someone special the years fly by,**

**And moments of love grow even stronger.**

**Remembering,**

**All the beautiful things that have been,**

**Looking forward to,**

**All the beautiful things yet to come,**

The room went silent, everyone was lost in thought. I was beginning to understand how Edward was so patient when it came to the love aspect of our relationship. With the depth of the love that these three couples shared, that he had been forced to watch for decades. I just hoped that ours could compare.

Esme looked over at me with a motherly smile. "Your time has come, my dear. We are so happy for you and Edward. He has been content for so long. You have finally made him happy. And we thank you for that. I truly believe that things can only get better for the two of you, once you are changed. And, just remember, Carlisle and I will always be here for you."

"Thank you Esme." I choked out with a smile. I was trying to control my tears. The room went silent for another moment, than Esme turned to me.

"Bella, truth or dare?" She asked me.

I froze for a second, then I remembered, this was the mother. But that thought was quickly squashed by the thought that she was also a woman and vampire. I was no longer confident that hers would be the easy question, as I would be sticking with my earlier thought of self preservation I said. "Truth," It was my only choice if I wanted to stay in one piece, I told myself.

"When "Bella Safety Rules" are close to being broken, who stops things?"

Wow, that was blunt. "Edward!" I said immediately, and with a sour tone. Alice and Rosalie roared with laughter. "Always the gentleman, I suppose." I added for Esme's peace of mind. "Alice." I said as I looked across the couch at the small shaking figure. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth" she said through narrowed eyes as she tried to calm her giggles.

"What, in your opinion, is Jasper's best feature?"

Alice thought for a moment before replying. "I would have to say, his eyes. There is just something about them. Even when I first met him, when he was just dabbling in the "vegetarian" life style, his eyes could get me to do anything." Than Alice turned to Rosalie, without missing a beat, and said "Rosalie, truth or dare?"

"Truth." she said without thought.

"When you go on three day hunting trips with Emmett, how long do you actually spend hunting?"

"I would have to say ... less than half. But, sometimes we like to just lay down and watch the night sky. It is really very beautiful, when seen from the mountains."

"I'm sure." Alice said, giving Rosalie a disbelieving look. I giggled as did Esme. Then Esme rose fluidly and came over giving me a hug.

"I will be back in a little while. I have to take care of a couple of things." She said to me. Before I knew it, she was gone, and so were the boxes from the bed. Great, they weren't kidding when they said that there would be a scavenger hunt. Maybe I could play dumb and act like I couldn't find them. Why oh why do I entertain such thoughts. I know they will never let me get away with that. I stared at the door for a moment before Rosalie turned to me. "Truth or dare, Bella?"

"Truth," I said quickly, turning my gaze to Rosalie.

"You know, Bella, I thought you were brave. Edward is always going on about how brave you are. But I guess that is just a show for him. He will be disappointed when he finds out."

"What are you talking about Rosalie?" I asked her stunned.

"Yeah, Bella, aren't you tired of answering questions?" Alice asked.

Why were they double teaming me all of the sudden. It must be the fact that Esme left. But I would show them I was brave, I think. "Well, if you must know, I don't trust either one of you." Let's see how they take that.

"Bella, we would never hurt you." Alice said, almost pained.

"Scouts honor." Rosalie threw in.

"I doubt you have ever been a scout." I glared at Rosalie, she glared back at me. Hers was definitely more impressive, so I gave in, I saw no other option. "Fine then, dare. But you know that if anything happens, Edward will be after the both of you."

"Have some trust, Bella." Alice said as Rosalie smiled wickedly. How could I trust either of them with the way they were looking at the moment? I was often stunned by the fact that Alice could seem more menacing than Emmett. And that is saying something.

"Okay, Bella." Rosalie said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "I dare you to die you hair purple." I gaped at her. Where in the world did that come from, and so quickly too?

"And where am I supposed to get the hair die from at ..." I checked the clock on the wall. It said that it was 9:55 pm. "Holy crow, it's almost ten o'clock. Sorry Rosalie, but the stores are closed now." I said with a triumphant smile.

"Oh, silly Bella, we already have the hair die. It really is a shame to lose it though. We were going to use it on Edward the next time we pranked him. But I guess by using it on you, we are getting an extension of him."

Stupid quick minded vampires, and their ability to always be two steps ahead of me. "And you wondered why I didn't trust you, here is your answer. How long do I need to leave this junk in anyway?"

"Well," Alice answered as Rosalie pulled me to the bathroom. "The die will have to be in your hair for a half hour before we can wash it out. But don't worry, it is temporary, so it will wash out in eight washes. Or, with the way you take showers, by Saturday morning." They both laughed.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I asked annoyed.

"Nothing, just sit tight. I will be right back." Rosalie said as she shot from the bathroom. She was back in a flash holding a box that said Garnier Nutrisse Plumberry. The hair color of the girl on the box was really pretty. But I still did not want to change my hair color. I knew I should have stuck to the pact I made with myself, but it was too late now. Alice took the box and started to mix all the contents. Then she shook the bottle for about five seconds, before she started to put it on my hair. The bottle had gone from white, to a pretty dark purplish red color, I still didn't want it in my hair. After about three minutes she stopped and stood back.

"There you go Bella. We will wash that out in a half hour, then you will have beautiful purple hair. I can't wait to see Edward's face when he sees you."

We left the bathroom and I sat on the floor, not wanting to get the hair die on anything. "Fine then," I said "Alice, truth or dare?" I hopped she would pick dare, I had a good one for her now.

"Dare." she said easily, she must not have any faith in my ability for revenge, but I would show them.

"You asked for this," I said with a wicked grin. "I dare you to not spend any money on me for the next month." Her face fell instantaneously. I had to laugh at that, and Rosalie joined me. Oh, I was still going to get her, I just needed to find something that would really hit her core.

"Rosalie, truth or dare?" Alice spat out in her rage.

"Dare." How could she say that so easily?

Alice's face twisted into the most menacing face I had ever seen in my life. "I dare you to let Emmett drive for the next month, whenever you two go out. And he gets to pick which vehicle he drives."

"No way!" Rosalie shouted. "That is so mean. I can't believe that you would take away my car."

"I didn't take it away, I just gave Emmett the ability to drive it for once."

"He is not driving my car!"

"That is your dare. Comply or not?"

"Comply." Rosalie said completely pissed. I was so sure she was going to take her rage out on me. But thankfully, she didn't. "Alice, truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to not shop at department stores for the next month. You can't go to any malls or boutiques. You must do all your shopping at places like Wal-Mart and Target." I was ready to run now. Alice's eyes went from a beautiful caramel brown, to flat black.

"Rosalie, that was so completely below the belt. If I have to shop there, then there is no point in shopping. I will get you back for this."

"Bella," I jumped when she said my name. But the two of them just laughed. "We have to get that stuff out of you hair, come on." She said as she pulled me back to the bathroom. It took about ten minutes before the water started to run clear. Then she put in some conditioner.

"That has to sit for two minutes, and then you will be all done; while we wait though, truth or dare, Bella?"

I wanted so badly to pick truth, but they would just harass me again. "Dare." I said reluctantly.

"I dare you to not kiss Edward until we get home from graduation tomorrow. You can't kiss him, he can't kiss you. And you can't say anything to him either."

"I'm not allowed to talk to him?" I said disbelievingly.

"You can talk to him you just can't tell him why you aren't kissing him. You can make something up if you want. But you can't tell him the truth. And you can't tell him to ask one of us either."

Damn, she really did think of everything, didn't she? This was going to be excruciating. I guess I shouldn't have told her she couldn't spend money on me. But it was too late now to take that back. Alice then washed the conditioner out of my hair and gave me a towel to dry it. I was still worried about this color on me. We went back to the room and I worked on drying my hair.

"Rosalie, truth or dare?" I asked her

"Dare." What was I going to do to her? I know, tomorrow is graduation, and no one has seen her for the last year.

"Rosalie, I dare you to go to the graduation wearing one of Emmett's outfits."

Wow, I didn't know that Rosalie could get any whiter. I guess that was really a good one.

"I have to go out in public in Emmett's clothes. Are you insane?"

"Let's see, I am playing truth or dare with the two of you. Yes, I'm insane."

Just then Esme came back in the room and sat back on the bed. She looked around at all of us and took a double take when she saw my hair. "I take it you girls have started to dare each other. What did I miss?"

Since my hair was now mostly dry I walked back to the couch to sit by Alice. I then recapped what Esme had missed. "Let's see, Alice is not allowed to go shopping anywhere of value for the next month, nor can she spend money on me for the next month." Esme started to chuckle softly. "Rosalie has to let Emmett drive them around for the next month, in which ever car he picks to drive. And she must wear Emmett's clothes to the graduation tomorrow." I could see that Esme was trying to not laugh so much, but her whole body was shaking now. "And, I had to die my hair this lovely shade of purple. Oh, yes, I must not forget, I am not allowed to kiss Edward tomorrow until we get home from the graduation." Esme was now clutching her sides and there was a choking noise coming from her. There had to be an end to this night, right.

Rosalie quickly turned on Esme. "Esme, truth or dare?"

"Truth." Esme answered with a smile.

"Okay then, why does it take you and Carlisle two weeks to hunt?"

"That is easy enough to answer. That is the only time we are alone. We use the time to talk, amongst other things." It was clear from the set of her face that that was all we would be getting. I laughed along with Alice and Rosalie.

"Alice." Esme said. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth." Alice called out.

"What is the least you have ever spent on a shopping trip?"

Man, even I wouldn't ask her that question.

"Well, Bella was being a baby last week, and made me stop after spending only five thousand on her. I guess that is the least ever."

"You spent five thousand dollars on me in one sitting? Are you insane?" I shouted at her.

"Calm down Bella." Alice said rolling her eyes. "You are well worth it, and I have not heard any complaints from Edward. Have you?"

"No." I said in a defeated tone. I hated them spending money on me. And they all knew that. I guess I would now have an eternity to drill that fact into their thick skulls. Maybe that would give me something to do on the boring days.

"Bella," Alice said. I could tell that she was going to tell me to stop worrying about the money they spend on me, but I was wrong. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth," I said, glad to change the subject.

"How many times in the last Twenty-four hours have you wanted to break the "Bella Safety Rules"?"

"I think I lost count somewhere around noon." They all started to laugh again as my face turned red, again. Trying to take the attention off of myself, for a moment I quickly turned to Esme and said. "Esme, truth or dare?"

"Truth,"

"I have been wondering about this for a while. But you don't have to answer, if you don't want to. Anyway, I just wanted to know ... how you could be so accepting and patient of me all this time, with what I seem to do to your family." I looked up at Rosalie quickly, then back to Esme.

"Well, first of all, Bella, it is your family too. Secondly, there is nothing to be patient with. You are a charming young lady. You are caring and loving and tremendously brave. Not to mention, what you do for Edward. As for what you do to this family," She also took a quick peek at Rosalie, who hung her head in shame for a second. "You have proven your worth over and over again. We are lucky that you want to be with us. And we gladly accept your trust, love, and understanding. Never doubt your place here."

"Thank you Esme." I said as I wiped the tears from my eyes. Alice threw her arms around me in a bone crushing hug. "Can't ... breathe…" I choked out. She let me go and kissed my cheek.

"Okay, enough truth or dare. It is getting late, and Bella still has a scavenger hunt to get through. Are you ready Bella?"

"No." I said plainly, but they all just laughed at me. I felt the blush coming back. I could not wait till I was turned. Then I wouldn't have to worry about the stupid blush anymore.


	15. Ch 15: Scavenger Hunt

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Fifteen:**

**Scavenger Hunt**

"You know guys, it's getting awfully late." I faked a yawn, and Alice rolled her eyes at me. "I think it is 'bed time for the human' as Edward says. Thank you for all the fun. I will see you in the morning."

"Nice try Bella. However, you are not allowed to go to bed until you find all of your presents."

"Well, you can't blame a girl for trying."

They all laughed as Alice brought out a small stack of colored envelopes. "Okay Bella, pick an envelope and then follow the clue. The clue will lead you to the location of the present. Once you find it bring it back and you can pick your next clue. You can not open them until you have collected them all. And only once they are all opened can you go to bed."

"Alice,"

"Yes, Bella?"

"I can't think of anything." I said sheepishly. Her wind chime laugh then filled the room. "I will find a way to pay you back for all of this."

"And I will make sure to look out for that." Rosalie and Esme started to laugh. I huffed for a second, then it hit me, and I laughed too.

"Fine, I will take the ... purple one."

Alice handed me the envelope and I opened it to find a neon pink index card inside, on it was written four lines, in Alice's petite script.

**In order for a house to be a home,**

**There are certain things it needs to have.**

**This room is not actually needed by us,**

**However, it is needed for you. (For now)**

What was that supposed to mean? There is a room in the house that they don't need, but I do, but I won't eventually. What room is that? They technically don't need the bathroom. Well, they do take showers. The dinning room isn't needed, but I don't need it either. I know … the kitchen. I need it now, but once I am changed I wont anymore.

I jumped up and ran to the door. I ripped it open and ran down the hall to the stairs. I tripped once I got about halfway down and almost fell down the rest of the stairs. I stumbled down three stairs before I was able to straighten myself. When I finally got to the bottom of the steps I stopped to take a deep breath. Just because I wanted this over with, didn't mean I needed to kill myself. I then ran to the kitchen more cautiously.

I looked around for a moment, and then I saw it. There was a medium sized silver package sitting on the counter. I ran to it and almost ripped the wrapping off of it. Then I remembered that I wasn't allowed to open them until I had them all.

That clue didn't take to long to decipher. Maybe this wouldn't take too long. Then I could go to bed. I really wanted it to be tomorrow. Not because I would be graduating, but because I was really starting to miss Edward. Well, I hoped that I could find the others quickly.

I walked back up to Carlisle and Esme's room. When I walked in I tossed the box on the bed, acting as if it was nothing. I then walked over to Alice. She fanned the remaining envelopes out and I picked the red one. I pulled out the neon green index card and read it to myself.

**In this room,**

**You will find,**

**Many squares,**

**Of colorful history,**

Let's see … history … that had to be the key word. What room holds history in it? And is it my history or theirs? Okay, I have memories of the living room. Lots of fun in there with Edward and Emmett; and Emmett is very colorful. Um ... the dinning room, that is where we decided my mortality, and where I learned of Edwards past. Maybe that is it. It is one of theirs history … many squares of colorful history. I got it.

I walked back out of the room and down the hall. I walked into Carlisle's office slowly. I had an abrupt felling that I was trespassing. However, I was fairly confident that this was where I was supposed to be. I hadn't been in here since the very first time Edward brought me to meet everyone. I guess the room did have my history too. That passing thought told me that I was in the right room. I looked around for something out of place. Walking straight ahead, I saw something silver on the desk. I walked up to it quickly and picked it up. I then left the room as fast as possible.

"I feel bad going through other people's things. I hope Carlisle doesn't get mad that I was in his office." I said as I tossed the box on the bed with the other.

I then went back to Alice and picked the green envelope. I pulled out the neon yellow index card, it said ...

**A small circumference,**

**And nothing too gaudy,**

**Is hidden in a usually small room,**

**But, rather large,**

**Then go and find,**

**Something tall and strong,**

**With a set of drawers,**

Okay, so I think this means that I have two presents in this room. Let's see, 'nothing too gaudy'? Who could that be? Well there is really only one vampire that that could be ... Rosalie. So what is in her room that should be small but isn't. It must be her closet. 'A usually small room, but rather large.' That must be it.

Now that I figured that part out, what of Emmett's do I have to look through? Hmm ... big and strong, with a set of drawers, he must have a wardrobe. I hope that there is only one in the room. I really don't want to be in their room, let alone going through their things.

I was going to have to make this a quick run. I walked out the door, so as to not let them know how much I didn't want to be doing this one. When I got to their door I took a deep breath before I entered. I went to the closet first. I would have to make sure that I didn't touch anything in here. Rosalie was finally treating me like family, I didn't want to know what would happen if I messed up her clothes.

I saw the box the second that I walked into the closet. It was on a shelf, about half way down the large room. This box was larger than any of the others thus far. I walked quickly to it and then straight out of the closet again. It wasn't as heavy as I expected it to be. But because of the sheer size of it, I decided to take it back to the room before I got the item in the wardrobe.

When I got back to Esme's room I noticed Alice eying me skeptically. I put the box on the bed then turned to her. "I will be right back." Alice then smiled as I walked back out of the room. I walked back into Rosalie and Emmett's room. I hadn't noticed earlier that there were actually three large black wardrobes.

Now, the question was, which one would they put it in? It was too much to ask, for them to just put it in the first one and let it be done. No they would find a way to make this embarrassing for me.

I walked to the first wardrobe and opened the doors. There was no silver package. I was about to close the doors, when it hit me, they might have put it in one of the drawers. I slowly opened the top drawer and looked in. Nothing shinny so I closed it, opening the second drawer. It wasn't there either. I went to the next wardrobe. I was mortified to find a huge assortment of leather costumes in this one. I really did not want to check the drawers, but I had to find the box. I opened these drawers even faster then the last two, neither had the package.

I then turned to the last wardrobe, I couldn't even imagine what might be in this one. I slowly opened the doors to find pants hanging neatly. That wasn't bad, so I opened the first drawer with no problem. Big mistake, this was Emmett's socks and underwear drawer. I quickly closed it. Of coarse they would put it in the last drawer. I opened the bottom drawer and there it was. I snatched it quickly, and ran from the room again, wanting to never have a reason to come into this room ever again.

"That was just plain evil." I said as I handed the box to Esme and walked over to Alice again. Esme smiled and Rosalie and Alice laughed. I just rolled my eyes as I took the Gray envelope from her hands. The neon purple card inside said ...

**In this room of white,**

**It is plain that I am not.**

**If you need a little more,**

**I have the Ivory key.**

Well, that had to be by far the easiest clue. She really must have ran out of ideas with this one. Edward's black piano completely sticks out in the white living room. The ivory key was really pushing it. She must think I am slow if she didn't think I would get this clue.

I walked back out of the room and down the hall. I was really doing good with this whole scavenger hunt thing. I had already found, what, four and this was number five. I would be done with this in no time. And that was a good thing, for two reasons. One, I was starting to wonder what was in these boxes. Two, I really was getting tired. I would need to get a least a couple of hours of sleep if I was going to look presentable at graduation tomorrow.

When I got to the piano, I checked the bench first. There were tons of liner notes, but no silver package. I then looked at the piano. Where could they hide something in it and not do any damage. There was really only one place. I opened the lid of the piano and saw a silver box. I, ever so carefully, picked it up and placed the lid back down gently. Then I smiled as I turned and went back to the room.

"That was the easiest one so far." I said as I put the box back on the bed. "I must say, I am really having fun though. Maybe we should do this again, you know, once I am changed. It can be a family affair."

"I told you that you would have fun." Alice said as I grabbed the orange envelope. I pulled out the neon yellow index card and read it.

**This next gift's feelings,**

**May be your own.**

**If they are to my liking,**

**They'll stay,**

**If not,**

**You can find a book or two,**

**In order to change your mood,**

Okay, it had not escaped me that I was finding things in places that had to do with specific family members. The kitchen was Esme, Carlisle's office, Rosalie and Emmett's room, Edward's piano, and now it was something that had to do with Jasper.

There was a room; it was a family room, not like Carlisle's office, that was mostly used by Jasper. Alice said that that was where he could mostly be found. Oh, yes, Jasper's study. That was where this clue was leading me. Either I was getting good at this, or Alice's clues were getting easier. I didn't care. I just wanted to know what was in these boxes. Well sort of, anyway.

I went down the hall to Jasper's study. I opened the door and walked in confidently. There was a desk and two tables. They were surrounded by many shelves of academic books. I wondered if it was called Jasper's study, because these were all his books. I knew that they had all gone to college many times. But was this really the books from those experiences. I guess that with five attending college, those books would pile up.

I stopped this train of thought. I was getting nowhere quickly. I had to hurry. I was almost done. Well, Alice was almost out of envelopes, anyway. All she had left was a yellow one. That had to mean the end was near.

I walked to the desk and looked at the top. No silver package. It obviously was not on either table. So I decided that I would quickly check the desk drawers, before I started to check the rows and rows of books.

I was finally rewarded with a quick discovery. I had opened the middle side drawer, just on a whim, and there it was. A silver wrapped box. I grabbed it and went back to the room.

"So this is the last one, right?" I said happily as I opened the yellow envelope and pulled out the neon blue index card.

"I never said that." Alice stated as I started to read the card. I almost dropped the card, when it hit me what she said. There weren't any more envelopes. Well, none that I could see. I would just have to hope that she was joking. I decided to play it off. I read the clue once again.

**I have brought you relaxation,**

**But also many hours of tension,**

So much for these getting easier; a room that has brought me relaxation and tension, and it has to do with Alice. That would have to be somewhere in her room. I walked across the hall to Alice's room. I took a quick look around. There was nothing shinny that I could see. I walked around the room to see if it was out of sight from the door. It wasn't behind the couch or the bed. It wasn't under the bed either.

I walked to the closet to see if maybe it was in there. No such luck. I then turned around and went to the bathroom. Of course, relaxation, the shower, I went into the bathroom and pulled back the curtain on the shower. There in the middle of the shower floor was my silver box. I grabbed it and ran back across the hall.

"That makes seven." I said.

"And this makes eight." Alice said as she held out a dark blue envelope. "I believe that I told you that that was not the last one." She said with a smile.

"Is this the last one?" I asked pleadingly.

"Yes, Bella now read the clue and find the last one." I ripped the envelope open and read it quickly.

**Where music surrounds,**

**And safety rules,**

**And boundaries will soon be crossed.**

I read it to myself three times. I was pretty confident that I would find my last present in Edward's room. Oh, if only it was Edward. That would be a gift worth the long night I had been having. I smiled and walked out of the room. I walked, as not to trip in my anxiousness. When I got to the door of Edward's room I opened it and looked around. My smile faltered for a moment. Edward was not in here.

I took another look and found a large box on the bed. If only I could have gotten what I really wanted. I picked it up and went back down the stairs. When I got in the room Alice had all of the presents lined up in the order I had found them. They each had a card on them now.

Alice took the box from me and put it in its place, placing a card on it as well. "You are now to open them in the order that you found them. Then you can read the card to find out what they are each for."

I should have known that she would drag this night out even longer. She could be pure evil when she wanted to. I walked over to the first present and picked it up. I ripped the paper off and opened the box. Inside was a three piece lingerie set. I turned red immediately. I picked the card up and read it.

**This three piece gift wrap set is to**

**be enjoyed on your honeymoon.**

I stared at her disbelievingly. If this was the first thing, I no longer wanted to know what was in the rest of them. I had to get this over with even faster now. I picked up the next box and ripped it open. I took off the lid of the box and saw something black. I picked it up out of the box. It was a really cute black dress. Maybe they weren't too bad after all. I grabbed the card and read it.

**This black pixie dress is to be worn**

**Only when you are allowed to wear**

**The item found in Jasper's Study.**

I looked at the card for a moment. The dress was beautiful, but what was in that other box? I was a little worried again. I ripped the wrapping paper off of the box I found in the piano. Inside the box was an extremely revealing bathing suit. I turned red as a tomato. I picked up the card and read,

**Because every girl needs at**

**Least one sexy swim suit**

Okay, the next two were found in Rosalie and Emmett's room. I was beginning to wonder if the location of the item had anything to do with the item itself. I ripped the paper off and tossed the lid to the floor. Inside was another black dress. I picked it up to see that the neck line was level, and it had cutouts at the waist. I read the card.

**I am at your disposal**

**Come your honeymoon.**

I then unwrapped the box that I found in Emmett's wardrobe. I was floored once again when I found what looked to be the invert of my new bathing suit. The card read.

**Because Edward loves to see you in blue.**

I think they are going to have to make up a new shade of red. Maybe they can name the crayon, Bella's Blush. This was getting ridiculous. I picked up the gift from Jasper's study, eying the dress from Carlisle's office. I ripped off the wrapping to find a shoe box. That couldn't be too bad? Could it? I answered my own question the second I saw the shoes inside. Not that you could call them shoes. They were the bottom of a three inch stiletto with lost of wispy straps fanned out around them. Now I know why I have to wait until I am changed to wear these. I would kill myself at the moment.

I turned reluctantly to the box from Alice's bathroom. This was going to be scary. I tore off the wrapping and dropped the lid to the floor and immediately wanted to put it back on the box. Inside was more lingerie, I should have known. I couldn't even figure out which way was up for the white leather straps. And the red thing had no back, or front. Yes, Bella's Blush was going to be a very dark color. My head was so hot I thought my brain was going to melt and ooze out of my ears.

**What you see in front of you**

**Is meant for your fun honeymoon time**

**Have fun with this**

**Spider Garter Bra Set**

**Three Piece Bralet Set, and**

**Strappy Back Baby Doll**

I was going to die. This was so beyond anything I had ever imagined. I took a deep breath and picked up the box from Edward's room. I shredded the paper off of it. I needed to get this over with so that I could escape the three of them. Inside was a dark blue dress. I picked it up and found a corset underneath it. They were both beautiful shades of blue. I took the card from Alice and read.

**Believe it or not these were bought by**

**Edward, for you to wear at graduation.**

I looked back at the corset. Where did he get that from? I am sure he had a good time in the lingerie store finding this. I hope he was embarrassed when he was in there. Then he might feel just an inkling of what I am feeling. I turned to Alice, who was shaking with silent giggles. I was really going to have to come up with something good to do to her once I was turned. Maybe I could find a way to get her 'no spending money on me/shopping for a month' extended.

"Can I go to bed now?"

"I said once you opened them that you could. But don't forget to take these with you."

She had put everything into the largest box and handed it to me. I took it reluctantly and walked back up to Edward's room. Where the heck was I going to hide this stuff? I decided to put it under the bed. Once I made sure that you couldn't see the box from anywhere in the room, I got in bed and passed out.


	16. Ch 16: Graduation

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Sixteen:**

**Graduation**

"Bella ... Bella, my love, it's time to wake up."

"No Edward, I need more sleep. Come back later, please."

"I don't think so, sleepy head. You don't want to know how Alice is planning to wake you up. I suggest you get up, before she gets too impatient."

I sighed heavily and opened my eyes. "If I must," I said as I looked at his exquisite face. As I smiled a good morning at him he leaned in to kiss me. I suddenly remembered last night. I shot off of the bed before he could land the kiss. However, with the combination of my quick movement and clumsy nature, I ended up on the floor, where I could see the box under the bed. Edward had been so shocked that I moved away from his kiss, that he hadn't caught me.

It had been a long time since I had actually made contact with the floor. So I don't think the fall actually hurt, I think that I was just so stunned to find myself on the floor, and not in Edward's arms. Edward pulled himself together and shot over to me. I quickly got up and sat back on the bed.

"Are you alright?" He asked worriedly.

"I'm fine." I said quickly as I gave him a hug, I was just about to kiss his cheek, but at the last second I pulled back. Edward looked at me quizzically for a moment, but didn't say anything. "Human moment," I said as I got off the bed, successfully this time.

Edward moved to straighten up the bed, but his eyes did not leave me. As I approached the door his eyebrows rose. "Where are you going?" He asked as I opened the door to leave.

"I have to go to Alice's room. She told me last night that I was to be there as soon as I woke up, or else. And I really do not want to know what that could possibly mean."

Edward chuckled as he came to my side and tried to kiss me yet again. I quickly moved my face and walked out the door. "See you in a little bit." I called back over my shoulder as I walked to the stairs. That was three times in less than five minutes. I was not going to be able to make it till we got back from graduation.

As I approached Alice's room the door flew open. Alice had a huge grin on her face as she pulled me into the room. "Do you know what Edward is currently doing?" she asked.

"How could I possibly know that? I am down here." I said annoyed. I knew that she was going to get a kick out of this stupid dare.

"He is pacing his room trying to figure out why you won't kiss him all of the sudden. It is quite entertaining." She said as she laughed and handed me my graduation dress and corset.

"This is not funny! He is going to hate me by the time we get to the school. Then he will never want to kiss me again. And it is entirely your fault Alice." I hadn't noticed the tears until Alice stepped forward to wipe them away.

"Bella, it is just a game, calm down please, things will be fine. Now go take your shower."

I just stared at her for a moment. Then I turned and headed for her bathroom. I wasn't surprised that she already had everything ready for me. There was a pair of underwear on the counter for me. There was also a large white towel and a brand new bottle of my shampoo. I stripped down and jumped into the shower. I took as much time as I dared. I wasn't trying to make Alice mad, but I wanted to get her back for this stupid dare.

Eventually, I got out and put on my clothes. I was having trouble with the corset so I cracked open the door and asked Alice to help me. Once we had that done I pulled the dress on, and tied the strings that held it up around my neck. This corset was an amazing thing. It helped give the impression that I actually had cleavage.

I then went to the sink to brush my teeth. I almost screamed when I caught my reflection in the mirror. I had remembered the 'no kissing Edward' dare I had forgotten the 'die my hair purple' dare. How had he not said anything about my hair? I brushed my teeth and turned to leave the bathroom. Alice and Rosalie were now sitting on the bed talking. When I entered the room, they stopped and looked at me, both chuckling.

"You look great." Alice said as she got up and came to me. Rosalie was on the bed still, chuckling. I could only assume it was because of my hair.

"So, Rosalie," I said quickly. "Does Emmett know that he has total driving freedom for the next month, yet?" That worked, her chuckle turned into a hiss and she started to glare at me.

Instantly there was a pounding on the door. "What is going on in there? Bella are you okay?" Edward's voice sounded so frantic. I looked from Alice to Rosalie wondering what had just happened. Then it donned on me. Rosalie must be thinking some not to nice things about me at the moment. I laughed as Alice glared at Rosalie.

"Go away Edward. Bella is fine, she was just testing Rosalie. Now we have to get ready for graduation. Why don't you do the same?"

"Bella?" Edward said through the door.

I laughed harder. "I am fine Edward. Go get dressed I will be up in a little while."

"Fine," Edward said, there was total silence. I listened hard but I heard nothing.

"He's gone." Alice said as she sat me in a chair in the middle of the room.

Alice and Rosalie then went to work on me. They blow dried my hair then pulled the top half into a ponytail. They covered my head in hot rollers, and then started on my face. Alice did my makeup, while Rosalie painted my nails. It didn't take long before they both stepped back to admire their work.

I got up to look in the full length mirror that was in Alice's closet. My hair cascaded down around my face in large curls. Somehow, the shade of my hair brought out the deep color of my eyes. It also looked really nice, with the color of the dress, not that I wanted to keep this hair color. I noticed that my nails matched my dress. I walked back into the room and gave Alice and Rosalie each a hug. Rosalie then handed me some shoes. It was total wishful thinking, that they wouldn't be heals. I slipped on the shoes and stood in the middle of the room waiting for my next instructions.

"Okay, you can go back to Edward now, if you want." Alice said as she kissed my cheek. I smiled at her and walked out the door and up the stairs to Edward's room. I was surprised when I didn't trip on the stairs. I suppose I was getting used to walking in heals now. My victory was short lived, however, for as I opened Edward's door I tripped and fell right into his arms.

He seemed to be ready this time. He caught me and pulled me to his chest. Edward inhaled my scent deeply, and he set me back on my feet. As his eyes raked over my appearance a huge crooked grin spread across his face.

"I knew that you would look beautiful in that dress." He said as he stepped towards me.

I blushed deeply as I quickly moved towards the couch. I sat down and he came to sit next to me with a dejected look on his face.

"Are you going to tell me what happened last night?" He asked looking worried. "I go hunting for a couple of hours, and when I get back, your hair is purple and you won't kiss me. What happened last night, Bella?"

I put my hand on his cheek and he closed his eyes as he turned into my touch. He kissed my palm and I smiled. When he opened his eyes they were still pained. What was I going to do? I wasn't allowed to tell him about the stupid game. But I needed to get that look out of his eyes. It broke my heart to see him look like that because of me.

"Edward, please don't worry about it. I just have a lot on my mind at the moment; and as much as I would welcome your kiss. I can't afford to be distracted right now. I still have to figure out what I am going to do about my parents. And I have been thinking a lot lately, about the fact that I am only just graduating, because of calculus. Things are just piling up, and I am having a hard time. Things will be better once we get back home, I promise." That was pretty good, probably because it wasn't exactly a lie. I was thinking about all of that, it just wasn't why I wasn't kissing him. What exactly would Alice do if I broke the dare, anyway? Never mind, I don't think I want to know.

"Bella," Edward said as he pulled me onto his lap. "I wish you would tell me these things sooner. I get so frustrated by the fact that I can't read your mind. I wish that you would at least tell me when you are thinking things like this. You know your parents love you. They just don't want you to be hurt, again." He flinched when he said 'again'.

"I can't blame them for hating me, after what I did to you. They ... They are worried that you are too willing to do anything to be with me, only because you have never had a boyfriend before." I tried to protest that idea, but Edward put a finger to my mouth to silence me.

"I know better, but you have to view it from their perspective. I look like a normal seventeen year old. All they see is their only daughter, with her first boyfriend. Within a matter of months she is already in love with him. Then what happens, he leaves her, broken and empty. Her reaction was far too strong for a high school romance."

"They are worried, to say the least. Then, the icing on the cake, the second he comes back to town, she takes him back, without a second thought. I will never be able to get over the pain I put you through. But I will do my very best to make sure that you know that I love you, everyday for forever."

"Edward, I can't speak for them. But, I can speak for myself I can tell you that I will never doubt your love again. I am sorry that I ever did. As for my parents, I think I have come to a decision. I will let them have their say. And, as much as I don't want you to hear what they are going to say about you. Out loud, or in their minds, I know you will be listening, either with your mind reading, or your heightened hearing. So you might as well be there with me. I know I will need your support."

I turned my head to look him straight in the eyes, and held his face firmly in my hands. "You just have to remember one thing. I love you! I always will. There is nothing they can do or say to make me stop. Now, I think we need to get going. I don't need them thinking anything else bad about you. And the sooner we get there, the sooner we can get home." If only he knew what I was actually saying.

Edward just stared into my eyes before he said. "You really are the bravest person I have ever known." Then he stood up and wrapped his arm around my waist. I leaned my head on his shoulder as we walked down the stairs to the living room. When we got to the bottom of the steps, I saw that we were the last ones down, as usual.

Alice, who now had on a beautiful purple dress that matched Jasper's shirt, came forward and gave me a kiss. I looked around and saw that Rosalie had on a dark green dress that matched Emmett's shirt. It looked like it was made out of one of Emmett's undershirts. Esme had on a lovely dark gray dress that matched Carlisle's shirt. I then turned to Edward, noticing his clothes for the first time today. His shirt, sure enough, matched my dress.

"Whose brilliant idea was this?" I asked laughing. Everyone joined in as we started out the door to the cars.

I noticed that Alice and Jasper were riding with me and Edward. I looked for Emmett's jeep but didn't see it. I looked at Alice with my eyebrow raised. She looked over to the Mercedes as Rosalie and Emmett go into the back seat. We looked back at each other and started to laugh again. Edward and Jasper looked at us confused. We both shook our heads and got into the car.

We followed Carlisle to the school at a slightly slower pace than Edward usually went. I could see it in Edward's face that he really wanted to be going faster, but Carlisle was setting the pace. When we finally got to the school Edward came around the car to help me out.

I could see Mike and Tyler by the doors to the Gym. They already had on their caps and gowns, and were passing out programs. Jessica and Lauren were just inside the doors, also already in their caps and gowns. As we all started to walk towards the gym I heard my name being called. I turned to see Angela in a lovely off the shoulder, sea green dress. Ben was beside her in a white dress shirt and black slacks. I smiled and waved at them, and then I turned and continued to walk into the gym.

Once in the gym I scanned the bleachers for my parents. I found them about half way down the gym, on the bottom tier of the bleachers. I grabbed Edward's arm and squeezed it as hard as I could. My parents were not the only ones there. Charlie was positioned in the middle. On his right were Renee and Phil. On his left were Billy and Jacob. I felt faint.

"Edward, is skipping the graduation by any chance an option?" I asked in a whisper, as we kept our course towards them.

"No." He said through clenched teeth. "What happened to all of your bravery from earlier?" He asked, finally taking his eyes off the Blacks. He looked down into my eyes and smiled reassuringly.

We walked to my parents, with all the Cullen's in tow. "Mom, dad, this is Edward's family. You obviously already know Carlisle well this is his wife Esme. This is his older brother and sister Emmett and Rosalie. You also both know Alice and this is Jasper. I gestured to each of them in turn and they all shook hands with Charlie and Renee.

Renee then looked at me quizzically and asked. "What happened to your hair, baby?"

"Oh, nothing, Alice, Rosalie, and I were playing around last night. It should be gone by tomorrow."

I gave Charlie and Renee each a hug. Then Edward, Alice, and I said goodbye to everyone so that we could get our caps and gowns, and take our seats.

We walked to the front of the gym where there was now a small stage and got our caps. Then we walked to our seats. Unfortunately, we were seated in alphabetical order, so I was no where near Edward and Alice. Instead, I got to sit by Jessica, lucky me. As we got to their seats they each gave me a hug. Then I turned to walk dejectedly to my own. Our gowns were waiting on our chairs I pulled mine on over my dress and sat down. I watched Edward as he and Alice had a quiet conversation. When Edward looked my way he winked and mouthed, I love you. I smiled and mouthed it back.

Then the principal stepped onto the stage and called everyone to order. Thankfully, the graduation ceremony did not take that long. After the principal made a speech about us filling our potential, he called for the valedictorian. I was surprised when Angela walked onto the stage. But I guess I shouldn't be, she was a much better student than I was. I enjoyed Angela's speech very much. She talked about us doing everything in our ability to reach our dreams. And not leaving the decision up to others. I smiled as I caught Edward looking over at me.

Finally, Mr. Berty went up to the podium to call our names. As Edward and Alice walked up to the stage, Edward winked at me. I blushed and winked back. I clapped loudly as their names were called. When it was my turn I walked slowly, so as to not trip. As Mr. Berty called my name I could hear Edward and Emmett very distinctly. I went a deep red, and tried to walk a little more quickly back to my seat. I could hear Edward and Alice chuckling softly as I passed them.

When I took my seat again I looked at Edward and tried to glare at him. But, the cheater, he smiled my favorite crooked grin and winked again. I was forced to smile. I would have to think of a way to pay him back later.

As soon as the ceremony was over Edward was at my side. "Are you ready for this?" He asked me. I just nodded, I couldn't speak at the moment, I was feeling nauseated.

We walked out of the gym and found Charlie and the other's by his cruiser. Renee came forward and hugged me. I then went down the line and gave them all hugs. No one spoke at first, and then Charlie took a deep breath and said.

"Congratulations, to both of you." His voice was friendly, but his eyes were hard.

"Thank you." We both said at the same time, we looked at each other and laughed, but Charlie cut us off.

"So, what are your plans for college?" He asked, clearly hopping that college would at last be able to separate us.

"I still don't really know." I answered casually. "I haven't gotten any acceptance letters, as of yet, and I was thinking of taking a year off anyway." I was thinking that I would need at least that amount of time to strengthen my blood lust control.

Charlie and Renee did not like this answer it was clear from their reactions. However, neither of them said anything. Billy was actually the next one to speak.

"Bella, I hear that you are now engaged. I was sad that I was not informed by you, personally. But I haven't seen as much of you lately as I once did." I felt Edward stiffen beside me, I squeezed his hand and answered Billy.

"Yes, Edward proposed to me just this last Monday. I am sorry, but I have been a little scatter brained lately. Some things came up," I looked at Charlie quickly, who quickly looked at the ground. "And I have been working on wedding planning with Edward's mother and sisters."

"Congratulations, Bella." Phil said. I could tell that he meant it. Renee quickly shot him a menacing look.

"That is it. I am not going to stand by and let this happen. Isabella Marie Swan, you are not getting married. I refuse to let you. You are only eighteen years old. You are already planning to put off college, what other life changing things have you not told us. Please don't tell me that you are making this decision because you have no other option. This is not a step you make at your age, unless there is a reason. Please tell me that you are not doing this because you are pregnant!?"

The last word hung in the air for a while as I processed what she had just said.

"MOM! How could you say such a thing? Do you really think so little of me. Well if that is what you think; it is obvious that you have never heard a single word that I have told you about my feelings for Edward. And if that is the case, I should ask you, why you married Charlie when you were nineteen." Renee looked at me stunned and Edward put his arm around me. I knew he was hearing even worse things in their minds. "Actually, I don't want to know, I really don't care. I am just hurt that you would all act like this. And for your information, no, that is not why we are getting married. We love each other and are waiting until after we are married to have sex."

"Bells, please don't marry him." I was stunned that Jacob would say such a thing right in front of Edward. His grip tightened even more.

He sounded so hurt though and was pleading with me to change my mind. I couldn't help myself, they had opened the floodgates. I glared at Jacob and yelled at him. "I will never love you like that. Stop trying to make me. All you are doing is making me hate you."

"Isabella!" Charlie yelled.

"Charlie!" I yelled back. "I am tired of trying to be polite. I am sick of you all thinking you know what is best for me. Because it has become painfully obvious that none of you do. I am more of an adult than Renee, I have more common sense than Charlie, and I am more open minded than Billy. I am the only one here qualified to make decisions for me. My decision is Edward, if there is anyone that can not live with that than I am extremely sorry. But I have made up my mind."

We all just stood there in silence for an immeasurable amount of time. Not a single one of them could look me in the eyes. I took that to be their answer. So I cut the cord. "I will never forget any of you. But I will probably never see any of you again. After we get married on Sunday we are moving. Don't even bother to look for us, you won't find us."

"Bella, please do not throw your life away like this. Take some time to think about what you are doing. Come back home and take some time to really think about all the things you say you are so positive about. Maybe after some thought you will notice that we are just trying to help you."

"Sorry Charlie, no dice. I gave you a chance to accept this. And since you seem to think that people only deserve one chance, I am going. Goodbye to all of you, I wish you all the best."

I then turned around and walked back to the Volvo with Edward close at my side. I was very proud of myself for making it through that without shedding a single tear, it didn't last though. As we got to the car Edward handed the keys to Jasper as he pulled me into the back seat. Alice then slid into the front passenger seat and we left the school for the last time.

I laid my head on Edward's chest as he stroked my hair. "I am sorry Jasper." I said between sobs. I could feel him trying to calm me, but it was not working.

"Well, my powers only seem to work on you sometimes. I have noticed that when you are in a determined state, they don't work, but it was worth a try." The three of them laughed softly, but I couldn't seem to stop crying.

"Thanks for trying." I said softly.

I cried for the next half hour. When I was finally all cried out I looked around to notice that I was on Edward's lap, on his couch. I got up without a word and walked to the bathroom to clean my face. I stared at my reflection for a long time. I was so lucky to have Edward. I would never want for anything, for as long as I had him. I walked back to the couch and sat back on his lap.

We just sat there, staring into each other's eyes, for who knows how long. Then Edward slowly leaned down to kiss me. As the kiss deepened I thought of two things. One, Edward's 'Bella Safety Rules' had slowly been crumbling as we got closer to Sunday. Two, I actually made it through half the day without kissing Edward. Not that I ever wanted to do that again, but it was nice to know that I could, should I have to. Before I knew it we were on the bed.


	17. Ch 17: Wild Waves

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Seventeen:**

**Wild Waves**

"I think we need to go downstairs." I told Edward, as he laid his forehead on mine. "Some family time would be nice right now."

"If that's what you want my love."

We got up and I changed out of my dress and into some jeans and a t-shirt. Then we walked down the stairs to the living room. Alice and Jasper were sitting on a couch, talking. When we got to the bottom of the stairs I caught Alice's eye.

"Are we interrupting anything?" I asked

"Not at all, what are you two up to?" She asked us

"I thought some family time would be good any idea where the others are?"

"Well, Carlisle got called in to the hospital. Esme is in her room reorganizing. Emmett and Rosalie are in the garage."

"Oh, would you two like to hang out with us?"

"No problem, what do you want to do?"

"I have no clue. But can we go somewhere. I kind of want to get away for a little while."

"We could go spend a -" Alice was then cut off as her eyes went blank. Jasper put his arms around her tightly. I could see Edward's smile out of the corner of my eye. I wasn't worried, but I wanted to know what they were seeing.

"What is it Edward?" He didn't say anything, so I looked back at Alice.

"That is a definite possibility." Edward said once Alice had come to.

"What is a possibility?" I asked more urgently.

"You will see." As he said this, Alice ran past me at lightning speed.

"Where is she going?" I asked getting annoyed.

"I will be right back, wait here with Jasper." I looked quickly at Jasper, who just shrugged his shoulders. Something was definitely up, but before I could say anything, Edward was gone.

I stood in the living room just watching the stairs. Jasper never said one word. Alice and Edward came back down about five minutes later. They were holding two black leather bags each. Jasper got up and walked past me, meeting Alice at the door. I stood my ground I wanted to know what was going on. Edward walked up to me and kissed my lips softly. Then he grabbed my hand and led me to the door. He was such a cheater sometimes.

As I got in the front seat of the Volvo, Edward put the bags in the trunk. When he was situated in the driver's seat I decided to try again. "Is anyone going to tell me what is going on? Where are we going?"

"Bella you need to learn to trust sometimes." Jasper said.

"What do you mean, I trust you. Trust you to take me somewhere I don't need to be just because it would be nice if some money was wasted on me. I trust you to get me unnecessary things, including clothing. I trust you to then tell me that you all do it because you want the best for me and because you love me. Can we please just go one place that doesn't result in you spending a fortune on me?"

"Bella, you really do need to control your temper sometimes. No one said anything about spending money on you. You said you wanted to get out, so we are getting out."

I felt ashamed. I had jumped to conclusions, now they probably thought that I secretly wanted them to spend the money on me. I should have kept my mouth shut. "I'm sorry." I said turning red.

Edward grabbed my hand and gave it a slight squeeze. "You are forgiven." He said with a smile.

I sat back in my seat and watched the world go by. I didn't realize that I had fallen asleep until I was awoken by Edward's lips on mine. I looked around and saw that he had my door open, and was leaning over me. As he stood up and held out his hand I could see that we were in a large parking lot. I could see that the sky was overcast but it was still quite hot. Edward was reaching for me to take his hand.

"Where are we?" I asked as I took his hand and got out of the car. I stretched luxuriating. Edward just stared at me for a moment, before he shook his head and smiled apologetically. We started walking through the parking lot. "We are at Wild Waves Theme Park." He said

"Theme park? What are we doing at a theme park? And where did Alice and Jasper go to?"

"They went to go get the tickets. We will meet them at the front gate."

"Edward, stop ignoring my question. What are we doing at a theme park?"

"I thought you said you wanted to spend some time away from Forks. Well, we are away from Forks now."

It suddenly donned on me. "Where are we exactly?" I asked

"Federal Way." As he said this I saw Alice and Jasper up ahead. They were standing off to the side of the ticket taker.

When we got to the front gate I was amazed. I had never been to a theme park before. This really was going to be fun. Alice and Jasper walked forward to hand us our tickets. Then we walked over to the girl taking the tickets. She stared at Edward and Jasper open mouthed.

I started to chuckle as Alice cleared her throat loudly. The girls took our tickets and let us pass, turning red as we did. Edward put his arm around me and kissed my cheek. I smiled and took a look around as we passed through the gate.

"Well what do we do first?"

"I say we go to the water park. We can ride the rides tomorrow." Alice said

"Tomorrow? Where are we staying, if we are coming back tomorrow? Wait a minute, didn't you say that you weren't spending money on me?" I huffed again. Edward smiled and pulled my face up to his. "You are the biggest cheater I have ever met in my life." I said as I smiled.

"So like I was saying, we should go to the water park."

"Sorry Alice, I forgot to grab my lovely new bathing suit."

Edward looked at me quickly. "New bathing suit? When did you get that?"

"Ask Alice." I said

Alice laughed as she held up the bag I hadn't noticed in her hand. "I have that covered."

I had no words. How did she know where I put that box? And did she show it to Edward? I bit my lip and panicked.

"Bella why are you so worried?" Jasper asked me

"Alice, please don't make me ask you what I know you know I want to know."

"I saw where you put it, and grabbed it while Edward was in his closet getting clothes. So don't worry, you can show him at a later date."

"Show me what?" Edward asked with one perfect eye brow raised.

"Nothing," I said quickly.

"Alice, you know I can get the information. You are better off just telling me."

"But it is for Bella to tell you."

"Yeah, how do you like them apples? I have a secret, and the longer you annoy me the longer I am going to keep it." I said snidely.

"Bella, what did I do?"

"You are a cheater. Alice, didn't you say something about a water park? Which way is that now?"

I grabbed her hand and started to walk away. Alice directed us to the water park with the boys close behind. When we got there we walked straight to the changing room/bathroom. It then hit me that I was going to have to put that bathing suit on. I looked at Alice pleadingly.

"Please tell me that you have another bathing suit for me to wear. I don't think I can wear that one."

"Sorry, Bella, I only brought one suit for each of us." She smiled as she took mine out of the bag and handed it to me. I took it and walked into the changing area. When I had it on I walked out and looked at her.

"I am not going out there in only this. Please don't make me." I begged

"Bella, you look beautiful. Now let's go. The guys are waiting." She grabbed my hand and pulled me out to meet the guys.

Edward and Jasper were waiting for us just outside the door. Jasper grabbed Alice's hand as she let mine go. I looked up at Edward, who looked like he would have fainted, if he could. I turned a deep red at his penetrating gaze. He stepped forward and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me to his chest.

"How in the world did I ever get lucky enough to get you?" He said before his lips met mine.

"You have that backwards, as usual." I said once I could string a sentence together.

"So where to first?" Alice asked

"How about Hook's Lagoon?" Jasper offered

"No that's too boring. I know, let's go to the wave pool. Bella, are you a good swimmer?"

"Yes."

"What do you say, guys?"

"Sure."

"Why not,"

Alice then grabbed Jasper's hand again and led the way to the wave pool. It was gigantic. I had never seen anything like it before. The pool started at a platform, it inclined steeply for about a hundred yards. We put our things down in some lounge chairs that were slightly away from everyone else and walked over to the edge of the pool.

About every five minutes there was a loud buzzing sound, then the waves would rip through the pool. It was so strange to see all those people bobbing with the waves. I took a quick peek at Jasper. This must be hard for him. I would have to make sure that he knew how much I appreciated all the sacrifices that he made for me.

I waited for the waves to stop before I stepped into the pool. I swam to about the middle and floated there waiting for the waves to come. Edward was suddenly by my side. He had said before that vampires could swim, but this was the first time I had ever seen him in water.

Our eyes locked, and we just floated there, staring into each other's eyes. When the buzz sounded I flinched at its loudness. All the sounds around us had disappeared in that moment. Edward chuckled softly I smacked his shoulder playfully and was pulled into his eyes again.

When the first wave came I wasn't ready, so it pulled me under. Edward followed me down and pulled me back to the surface. He kept his arms around me to make sure I didn't get pulled back down. When the waves stopped he let go, only slightly, and looked at me worriedly.

"Are you okay?" He asked

"Yes, I guess I wasn't ready, you were dazzling me."

"I didn't mean to." He said apologetically.

"I know." I said then I kissed him softly on the lips. When I pulled away he pulled me back in another, more passionate, kiss. We sank to the bottom of the pool. After a minute, or so, Edward shot us back up, releasing my lips. I breathed in deeply, and smiled.

"That is definitely something we will have to try again, once I am changed." Edward smiled but said nothing. "Edward, I think we need to talk."

"What about?" He asked skeptically

"Oh, you know this and that."

"Bella, what is that supposed to mean?"

"Follow me." We got out of the pool and walked over to the lounge chairs with our things on them. I sat facing Edward as he looked around.

"Edward, it has recently come to my attention that we have a lot of things that we need to talk about. I, for one, think that things shouldn't be a necessity in order to be talked about. We really shouldn't only talk about things because they have impending dead lines. I think we need to start discussing things purely because they are on our minds." I was starting to wonder if I was making any sense at all. "We seem to have a bad habit of leaving important conversations till the last minute."

"Bella," Edward said, cutting me off. "What are you talking about? What is it that we need to discuss?"

"Well, first of all, Esme asked me if we were still going to live with them after we are married. I, personally, don't see why we wouldn't. So I told her yes. But then I thought about it. You may have other plans. But since these are things we don't talk about, I wouldn't know. Now would I?"

"I never really thought that far ahead. Of coarse we can stay with the family. If you want us to that is. Where ever Carlisle and Esme are will always be home. However, if you want, we could get our own home. I do still own a house in Chicago. We could live there if you wanted. We can live anywhere you want to."

"As nice as that sounds, I think that it might be safer to stay with the family. At least until I can be around humans again. How does that sound?"

"Anything you want, my love."

"That is another thing. I know that you would do anything to make me happy, but you have to make some choices too. I can't be the only one making the decisions. It just feels wrong."

"I make choices all the time. I choose to let you have your way. Seeing you happy makes me happy. Don't you see that I love you so much?"

"I love you too. That is not in question and never will be again. I just want to make sure that we are not doing things you do not want to do, just because I do." It was obvious that he wasn't going to say anything to that. "Wasn't it you, who said that I look adorable when I am angry?" I rolled my eyes. "I would think that you would make more decisions without my consent."

"Bella, that isn't fair. You do look adorable when you get mad. But I would never intentionally upset you. Now please, there must be something else that you wanted to talk about?"

"Well, as a matter of fact, there is. I just don't know how to articulate this properly."

"What is it Bella?" Edward moved even closer to me. I stared into his eyes for an immeasurable amount of time. I hadn't even noticed that I had stopped breathing until my head started to swim. I breathed in deeply and gave Edward a sheepish grin. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me lightly.

"Edward, we need to talk about what will happen once I am changed. I know that this is something that you always try to put off." I put a finger to his lips as he was about to protest. "I need to know a couple of things, for my own peace of mind." I sighed heavily "Edward, what are the things, other than my heart trying to jump out at your touch, are you going to miss about my humanity. Because it seems to me that you are going to miss it more than I am."

Edward stared at me, completely dumbstruck. I waited patiently for his answer. I was hopping that he was trying to find a coherent way to say what he was feeling. And not debating on whether or not to tell me. After about a minute he blinked a couple times and looked away from me.

"Why is this something you need to know?" He asked sadly, as if he were afraid of my answer.

"You have been wrestling with this decision for a long time. Don't even try to tell me that you haven't. And I need to know what has been standing in the way of our eternal future together. Because I know it is not that you do not really want me around for forever. I also know that you don't really believe, down in your inner self, that good vampires have damned souls."

"Bella, my love, sometimes you are too observant for your own good." He hesitated for a moment longer before he finally continued. "Yes, I already told you that I will miss your hearts overreaction at my touch. I will also miss your soft, warm touch, and your intoxicating blush." He closed his eyes and smiled a sad smile.

"Bella, to tell you the truth, I am afraid ..." He paused again. "I am afraid that the change will change you. I never knew any of the members of my family before they were changed. I don't know what the change did to their character. To be absolutely honest, I don't know what the change did to my character. I have few human memories, and those I do have can tell me nothing of the person I was."

"You have to understand, Bella. I love you so much. I have no idea what I would do if you woke up and weren't you. If the change … changed your heart; Bella, please don't cry." I hadn't even noticed the tears welling up to spill over. I had never thought of anything like this. Where did these ideas come from? Can the change actually do that to a person? Edward held me tightly to his chest. The tears had started to fall, and I was not able to stop them.

"I am sorry that I upset you. That is why I never said anything. Please, just know that I will always love you." He then added in a very low whisper. "Even if you don't love me anymore,"

"Edward I do not think that that could ever happen. I know that I can not tell you to stop thinking these kinds of things. But can you at least try to tell that part of your brain that I love you too much to let that happen."

I gave him a passionate kiss that he returned eagerly. Then he pulled back as I felt a presence behind me. I turned to see Alice and Jasper standing behind me.

"I think it is time we changed and checked into the hotel." Alice said


	18. Ch 18: Grand Theft Auto?

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Eighteen:**

**Grand Theft Auto**

It wasn't a long drive to the hotel. When we got there I saw it was an Embassy Suites, near the Sea-Tac Airport. I wasn't too surprised, heaven forbid they stay somewhere normal, like Country Inn or Double Tree. Edward walked up to the desk and checked us in while Alice, Jasper, and I sat in the lobby talking.

"Thank you so much for coming with us. I am sure that you two could have found something else to do. But I'm glad you came with us."

"Bella," Jasper said with a slight chuckle. "Edward is right. You do say the funniest things sometimes."

"What do you mean?" I asked frowning.

"This is way more fun than anything we could have found to do in Forks."

"I'm sure. But you didn't have to come with us. So like I said, thank you, you especially Jasper."

Jasper looked like he was about to say something. But at that moment Edward came to get us. He took my hand and led us to the elevators. Our room was on the top floor, of course. I just wish that they could reign in the spending sometimes.

The room was huge. It was a two room suite, each room having its own bathroom. There was a common area with a television and VCR, a couch, a love seat, and a coffee table. Across the room was a wet bar with a second television, a mini fridge, a microwave, and a coffee maker.

There was a list of hotel amenities posted to the back of the door. I saw that there was a pool, a weight room, and even a guest laundromat. That was the silliest thing I had ever seen in a hotel. Alice said that it would be fun too explore the hotel. So we all changed and Alice brought the clothes with us to go wash.

The laundromat was on the first floor. We tossed all the clothes in the washing machine and bought some soap. I tried to get my bathing suit out before Alice noticed, but she caught me and put it back in.

While the clothes washed we checked out the first floor of the hotel. We found the pool and sauna, and then we passed the weight room. As we wandered through the weight room we giggled at all the guys trying to catch Alice's eye. I started to blush when one of the guys came up to us and started to ask if we were sisters. Alice told him yes and that we had to go because our husbands wouldn't like it if we were talking to strange men. I laughed again as we left to go back to the laundromat.

After we put the clothes in the dryer we went to check out the second floor. It seriously took longer to get to the second floor than it did to check it out. The second floor was taken up completely by the hotel's restaurant, Rings. It looked nice, from what we could see of it. And it was obviously well liked, as it was completely packed. We heard the host tell some ladies that there would be a twenty minute wait for two. I laughed and we went down to the lobby to talk while we continued to wait for the clothes to finish drying.

We talked for a little while about the decorations of the lobby, and the guy staring at us from the front desk. Then we laughed about the reaction the guys would have had had they been with us in the weight room. We sat in silence for a moment before I got up the courage to ask Alice what was on my mind.

"Alice, you and Edward are closer then any of the others. I would venture to say that only you and Jasper are closer. Right?"

"I guess you could say that. Why?" Her eyebrow rose.

"I need to talk to you. But I don't want it to get back to Edward. Not until I'm ready, anyway."

"Bella, you know that you can ask me anything."

"I know that. I just ... He can't find out the wrong way. I have to talk to him. But first I need some information."

"Information about what?" Her voice was full of wonder.

"I'm sorry." I changed my mind. "I shouldn't have said anything. I can't take the chance. Knowing the little cheater, he's probably listening to your mind right now."

"I can block him if I have to."

"Alice, I'm afraid that ... That we need to go get the clothes. Come on."

"Bella?" Alice called after me as I got up and started towards the laundromat.

"Don't worry about it."

When we got to the laundromat I pulled the clothes out of the dryer and Alice folded them. Then we took the elevator back up in silence. I was kicking myself for saying anything. I am so stupid. The Cullens can't have a mystery. Alice is going to be wondering what I wouldn't tell her. Meaning Edward is going to know that there is something I need to talk about. I needed to figure this all out, quickly.

Maybe the only way I can really get my questions answered is to talk to Carlisle, or Esme, or Carlisle **and** Esme. But how was I going to get them alone long enough to talk, and before the wedding? For now I was just going to have to hope that Alice could keep my cryptics to herself.

When we got to the door it opened immediately. Edward pulled me into the room with a huge grin on his face.

"I missed you." He said as he kissed me.

"We were hardly gone for an hour." I said giggling.

"Does that mean that you didn't miss me?" He asked, pouting.

"No. It just means that I can handle it better."

"We already knew that though." We said it jokingly, but it still hurt to mention the separation. Edward must have noticed the pain in my eyes, because he quickly changed the subject.

"Are you hungry, my love?"

"Famished, actually, what's for dinner?"

"What are you in the mood for?"

"Well," I said calculatingly. "Since you aren't on the menu," Edward smiled "I don't know. What do they have?"

"That wasn't the question."

He could really be difficult sometimes. So I decided to play some more. "I am sure that they do not have what I want anyway."

Edward cocked an eyebrow. "What do you want for dinner?" He asked.

"Oh! Dinner, yes, because they don't serve my favorite dessert here." I smiled as Edward pulled me into his arms and kissed me. "I think I will have a steak and potatoes." I said when he put me down.

"Good because that is what I ordered for you."

"What?"

Just then there was a knock at the door. "Room service." A shrill female voice said.

I walked over and opened the door. There was a girl standing in the hallway with a black uniform on. She was a little taller then me. Her hair was a light auburn and her eyes were blue. The girl handed me a tray as she gawked at Edward. Edward handed her a tip and shut the door on her. I snickered as I took the tray to the bar. I could guess what he was hearing from her mind. I grabbed a coke from the mini fridge and sat down to eat as Edward came and sat down beside me.

"Why is it that you guys always order me Steak?"

"It gives you the most nutrients."

"Is that a medical answer?" I asked staring at him. "What would you have said if I told you I wanted chicken?"

"I would have gotten you to change your mind."

"Is that so? How would you go about changing my mind?"

"Like this."

He started to kiss my neck. It felt so good. I hadn't even noticed my hand shaking until I lost my grip on the fork and it fell to the floor with a clatter. Edward pulled back and bent down to grab the fork. He took it to the sink and washed it before giving it back to me.

"I think I am going to let you eat. I will go see what Alice and Jasper are doing."

"Okay." I said reluctantly.

When I finished my dinner I went to the common area to see what they were doing. They were sitting on the couch talking quietly.

"What's up?" I asked

"We were just trying to decide what to do tomorrow." Alice answered me.

"I thought we were going back to Wild Waves?"

"Yes, but we also need to get home to make sure that everything is ready for Sunday." Edward said as he smiled my crooked smile. "You did kidnap Alice, my love. She is supposed to help Rosalie set up the meadow."

"See, I always find a way to make a mess of everything."

"It will be fine." Alice said pulling me onto the couch with them. "If you want, we can go back to Wild Waves in the morning. If we leave around noon, or even one, we will be home in plenty of time. I will just call Rosalie and tell her to wait for me to get home."

"No, we don't have to go back. We can always go another time. We can just go back home in the morning." This would be perfect. I am sure I would have a chance to at least talk to Esme now.

"Are you sure Bella?"

"Yes Jasper, I am. Well, I am going to go to bed." I said trying to stifle a yawn. "Good night."

"Good night and sweet dreams." Alice said giving me a kiss on my cheek.

"Night," Jasper called to me.

Edward walked with me into our room and lay on the bed as I got my things together. I grabbed my bathroom bag and searched through my bag for something to sleep in. I managed to find a tank top and some shorts so I took that. Alice and her packing style, I know she knew that I was not going to wear any of the lingerie she packed for me. But I guess, being her, she had to at least try. I gave Edward a kiss on the cheek before going to take my shower.

The shower felt nice. But I was a little tired from my full day. I got out as quickly as I could and toweled off. I blow dried my hair till it was mostly dry. Then I went to join Edward in the bed.

I climbed under the covers and yawned hugely. I laid my head on Edward's chest and draped my arm around his torso. His arm was under me with his hand rubbing my back. I yawned again and he kissed my forehead before starting to hum my lullaby.

"Good night, Edward. I love you."

"Sweet dreams, my love."

With one last kiss I fell asleep. I woke in the morning to Edward's beautiful topaz gaze. He kissed the tip of my nose as I stretched.

"Sleep well?" He asked.

"I always do when I'm with you."

I got up then and walked to the bathroom. I quickly brushed my teeth and hair and went back to Edward. He took my hand and led me back into the common area.

"So how long will it take you to get ready, Bella?" Alice asked as soon as I sat down. Edward then picked up a breakfast tray from the table and sat it on my lap. It had a bagel, eggs with cheese, some fruit, and a glass of milk.

"Well it looks like I have to eat breakfast first." I said as I picked up the bagel and started to load it with the eggs. "Then, I don't know, maybe a minute."

"Good. We decided that we want to go back to Wild Waves and ride some rides before we go home."

"Okay, I will hurry up then." I said as I took a big bite of my recently made egg bagel. It took me five minutes to finish all my food and chug the milk. I then went back to the room and got dressed in a pair of pants and a tank top. Once everyone was dressed for the day Edward took the bags back to the car and Alice went to check us out.

"Bella?"

"Yes, Jasper."

"What did you mean last night when you said you wanted to especially thank me? Why me?"

"I know that you love Alice very much. And for some unknown reason she likes to be around me almost as much as Edward. I also know that it is hardest for you to be around me. But you do it anyway. If any of you should truly hate me, it should be you. But it never seemed like you did. So I wanted to thank you for putting up with me for the past two years."

"I'll admit, it has been very hard. And I can't say for sure if it actually got easier. But I know that your bond with Edward is as strong as my bond with Alice. I don't know what I would do if something happened to her. That is how I steady myself in your presence. I think of Alice. Since we are being honest here; I just want to say thank you to you, too."

"For what?" What could I have possibly done?

"For two things actually, first, I want to thank you for your unspoken, yet unconditional, forgiveness for how I acted at your birthday party." I guess Edward wasn't the only one that could be masochistic in the family. "I know you and Edward each blamed the nights events on yourselves. But it was truly my fault. I am so sorry for everything that came about from my lack in strength."

"Jasper, you were just reacting. And I never blamed you for any of it. I hoped you wouldn't either."

"All the same, I am still so sorry for what happened. I only wish that I could take it all back." Jasper was quiet for a moment looking at his hands. Then he looked back up into my eyes. "I also want to thank you for giving Edward what no one has ever been able to give him … A happy existence." He answered my unasked question. "I don't think you will ever realize how much you have truly changed our family, for the better. I know that you don't believe me. But you most certainly do, and by the way, you need to be nicer to yourself. Alice is a very friendly person, but she can tell when someone is not worth her time. You have accepted us for what we are. You never judged us or thought ill of us. That is why Alice and Edward, actually the whole family, want to spend time with you. You are a truly unique individual."

By the time he was done I was so embarrassed I was beet red, I'm sure. Jasper chuckled and sent a wave of calm towards me. I was grateful and smiled at him sheepishly.

"We should go. They are waiting for us downstairs." Jasper waited for me to get up, then he followed me out of the room. We took the elevator to the lobby and walked to the waiting car.

"Have a nice chat?" Alice asked once we were both in the car. Edward leaned over and gave me a quick kiss. Then he took my hand in his as he drove us back to Wild Waves.

We had a great time. We rode the Wild Thing three times. Then the three of them did the I-5 Sky Dive. After that we knocked each other around in the Bumper Cars for a while. I then begged them to go on the Octopus with me. Alice and Jasper refused to go on it. So we went our separate ways for a while. I made Edward ride the Octopus with me five times before he made me get something to eat. I decided to get a meatball sub from Subway.

When I was done I was starting to wonder where Alice and Jasper were, they still hadn't caught back up with us yet. I decided to ask Edward if he knew where they were. That's when he told me that they had gone home.

"What do you mean they went home?"

"I mean they went home. We really should be heading home too." Edward started to lead me back to the park entrance.

"Did they run home?"

"No. They took my car."

"Um ... How are we going to get home then?" A huge grin spread across his face. He looked so angelic. "Edward! How are we going to get home?" I asked again.

He was now walking us through the parking lot. He stopped at a very beautiful silver car. The back of it told me that it was a Bentley Continental GTC. Edward jumped in and lowered the top. It was obviously a convertible.

"Edward! Grand theft auto? This is major, why didn't we just leave together?"

"You were still having fun. Anyway, I'm just borrowing it. I will give it back to the owner."

"You know who owns this?" I asked skeptically.

Edward got back out of the car and opened the door for me. I still didn't move. "Bella, get in the car please so that we can get home."

"Who owns this car Edward?" I asked as I allowed him to put me in and put my seatbelt on. Edward then got back in and started the engine. As he pulled out of the parking lot he looked back at me. He ran the back of his hand lovingly across my cheek then took my hand.

The ride home was silent. Edward put the top back up as it was starting to rain. When we got home I had a true sense of homecoming. But I had to find out where this car had come from.

"Edward, are you going to tell me where you got the car from?"

"It is yours silly. It is my graduation present to you."

All I could do is gape at him. After a little while, when I was able to find my voice again, I said to him. "Edward! I know I told you no cars." I was trying to sound stern. But it was really so beautiful.

"But you don't have your truck anymore. Besides, you said no Audi Coupe. This is no Audi Coupe."

"You've got that right." I said bitterly. Edward laughed and I joined in with him.

We went into the house and found Emmett and Jasper on the couch playing video games. I went and sat next to Emmett, Edward on my other side, and we watched them play. This time it was a different kind of race car game. The box on the coffee table said Midnight Club: Dub Edition. Emmett was currently bolting through a set course. When he was done he headed to a garage and started to scroll through cars that I noticed were named after various family members.

He stopped on the one named Rosalie. It was a motorcycle with a female rider. He then left the garage and drove down the streets looking for a race. He found one that would make him some money. He ended up winning thirty-five hundred dollars. He then went back to the garage and decked out the bike.

I was bored with watching by this point. I leaned over to Edward and whispered suggestively in his ear. "I'm bored. Got any Ideas?"

"A few," He said with a sly smile.

"See ya later boys." I said as we went up the stairs. I heard them both laugh as we hit the first landing.


	19. Ch 19: Talking In Your Sleep

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Nineteen:**

**Talking in your Sleep**

Much to my dismay, our make out session didn't last that long. It was only a half an hour before Emmett came knocking on the door.

"What?" Edward said annoyed as he turned to the door. We were smart this time and stayed on the couch. Emmett came in with a huge grin plastered on his face. He knew he wasn't really interrupting anything.

"I'm bored man. Let's go hunting." He looked pleadingly at Edward.

"I have better things to do." Edward said turning back to face me.

"But I don't." Emmett said as he made to pull Edward away from me. "Come on man. Esme is home. Bella will be perfectly safe."

Yes! This was my chance. With Alice and Rosalie at the meadow, if the guys went hunting, I would be able to at least talk to Esme before they got back. And I was sure that she would not let the conversation slip. "It's okay Edward." I said, trying to inject sadness into my voice. "I would love to spend some time with Esme. You guys go and have fun."

"Are you sure? I don't have to go you know."

Oh, but you do "Yes I'm sure. I will be fine until you get back." Edward just looked at me for a moment. Then he shrugged his shoulders and gave me a final kiss before letting Emmett pull him from the room. I immediately went to the window, getting there just in time to see three blurs cross from the house to the forest in back. I changed into jeans and a t-shirt, and then went downstairs to find Esme.

I found her in Carlisle's office, reorganizing his books. The door was slightly ajar but I knocked on it anyway. Esme was at the door before I could blink. "What can I do for you, Bella dear?" She asked me with a smile.

I smiled back to her and then took a deep breath. "I was wondering if I could talk to you. It's a rather important and personal matter. But I don't want to disturb or upset you."

"Come in sweetheart. Of course you can talk to me about anything you should know that by now." She gave me an encouraging smile and backed up so that I could come into the office.

I walked past her, sitting myself down in one of the plush chairs that faced Carlisle's desk. Esme sat in the other one, waiting patiently for me to begin. I took a deep breath, that's when it hit me just how hard this was actually going to be. Edward's masochism had us stymied. And I was almost positive that this was the only way to get the answers I needed.

In order to prolong coming to the actual point, I started with an apology. I still didn't know how I was going to ask my questions. "Please forgive me if I say anything that upsets you. And you don't have to answer anything you don't want to." Esme nodded and continued to smile at me. She was trying to hide the worry I had just instilled in her. Unfortunately, for her, her son was too much like her, I had grown used to noticing the minute change in his features. Thus, I could see the worry in her eyes.

"Go on." She said after a moment of silence. I was beginning to kick myself for being so stupid. Now the only way to keep this from Edward was to ask what I needed to know. How well I had backed myself into a corner again.

I took another deep breath and started for real this time. "When you were human you had a husband." I stated trying to convey the type of question I was about to ask. But the look in her eyes turned to sadness. I needed to get this over with. She nodded and I continued. "I was wondering if you remembered what it was like to touch and be touched by him?"

For a moment, Esme looked at Carlisle's personal history, which was displayed in so many beautiful portraits across the wall behind us. Then she turned back to me, still with that sadness evident in her eyes. "Bella dear, I do not believe that anything that I remember from my human life can help you on this particular matter."

"I am sorry. I shouldn't have said anything." I said quickly looking down at my hands that I had started to wring together. Why hadn't I listened to that voice in the back of my head? I should not be doing this to Esme. I knew her past. Charles was not a good man. He was a monster, in every sense of the word.

Esme came over to me and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. She tried, in vain, to wipe the tears from my eyes with her free hand. But even I could not get them to stop coming.

"What is it you are trying to ask my dear?" She asked while rubbing my back gently.

I couldn't answer her yet. I was still trying to stop my tears and calm my breathing. Just then the office door flew open. For one wild moment, I was almost positive it was Edward. However, when I turned, it was to find Carlisle in the doorway. He had a look of concern on his face. He must have smelled my tears and came rushing up to find out what was going on. The look on his face told me of the worry he was now feeling for his family. Even at a time like this I could marvel in the knowledge of how much I had learned about this family, and how much I didn't need their powers to read them.

"What happened?" He asked Esme. His voice was laced with the worry that was etched onto his face.

"Nothing happened." Esme answered him as she stood and walked over to embrace her husband, and kissing him lightly on the cheek.

"Then what is the matter?" He said slowly, looking towards me in confusion now.

"I am not sure." Esme answered him. "I was just asking her that same question." They both then looked towards my slightly shaking form. _I am so stupid._

"I need to know something." I sniffed, still trying to stop the tears. "I just don't know how or who to ask."

"You can ask us anything, Bella." Carlisle repeated Esme's earlier words as he went to sit behind his desk.

"Are you sure?" I asked, taking in another calming breath.

"Yes Bella, anything," Carlisle assured me.

"Even if it has to do with Edward and I?"

They exchanged a look. Then Carlisle again slowly said. "Yes, anything."

I looked at them for a moment. They were truly the epitome of the perfect parents. And I knew that they would be able to help me. Or at least, they would do everything in their considerable power to try.

So I decided to start at the beginning. "I am sure that you know by now that when we left the graduation on Friday it was not on good terms with my parents. In order to try and distract me from that Edward, Alice, and Jasper took me to Wild Waves, for some fun. While we were there Edward and I had a very … intense conversation."

They were listening intently to me. But I could see that they still had no clue what I was trying to say. I had to stop dragging this out. But I didn't want to push my insecurities on them. They sat patiently as I paused for a moment.

"So we were talking about the things that he would miss about my humanity. I really want to become a vampire. But I don't want to take anything away from him. So I had to know what the things he would miss the most were. Then the conversation changed. And he told me something that I was shocked to hear. I need to know. No, **we** need to know. Is it at all possible for the change to ... **change** me? I mean, he said that he is worried that when I wake from the change that I will no longer love him. Is that at all possible? And if so, what am I going to do to prevent it?"

I had started to cry again. I was just glad that Edward was not here at the moment. I don't think he would be too happy with me telling them his insecurities. Even though they were his parents, he had known them for so long. And he had always had that careful facade of collectedness.

"Well," Carlisle said after a moment. "That is a new concern." He looked towards Esme and they shared a small smile. "No Bella, that is not possible least of all for the two of you. You know Edward, always the masochist. But you have nothing to fear. There will be no change to your character. You will still be the girl we have all come to love when you awake."

I smiled hugely. They had shown, in all of their actions, over the last two years that they loved me, but to hear them say such, and in such a way. It just filled me with joy.

"Is that all you needed, dear?" Esme asked. "Because it seemed like there was something else."

I turned red as I looked back at my hands. But I had to ask her. There was no getting around it now that I had made her think of Charles. I would have to find a way to make this up to her. But I would now have an eternity to do so.

I closed my eyes and began again. "Edward has made more than a few comments about how my skin feels against his own." I opened my eyes and looked at them. "I was wondering ... I need to know ..." Deep breath. "Esme could you tell me the difference between the two? I know that I will lose my softness and warmth. But once I am changed, how will he feel to me." I blushed again. "How does Carlisle feel to you?"

"Bella, my child, you and Edward are both new at all of this. And there are going to be changes in both of you after tomorrow." They exchanged another look and another smile, then Carlisle took over. "Edward has been given a rare gift. He was allowed to know his mate before her change. That can benefit you both. This way, you will never really lose your human memories. They will forever be in Edward. As for, how you feel to each other, that will change. Only the two of you can say if it is a good change or not, though I do believe that he will find it a surprisingly good change."

"You see, body heat on our skin is like the sun on yours." Esme continued. "It radiates throughout from its point of origin. I do believe that Edward will miss the warmth your skin currently holds." I couldn't stop my eyes from turning sad. She had noticed and continued a little quicker. "But I am also sure that he will be infinitely happier with the change."

"Was that all you needed then dear?" She asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes, thank you both so much. I think I will go downstairs and read a book while I wait for the guys to get back from hunting."

"I am very proud of you." Carlisle said as I got up. "I just want you to know that. And I commend you for your ability to get Edward to voice his secret truths. It isn't easy to get him to speak his mind about such personal matters, I should know. But, then again, you always have had a secret power over him."

I blushed as they both chuckled softly. "Thank you. And I am sorry Esme, for earlier." She looked at me questioningly, as did Carlisle. "I just didn't know how to say what I was trying to say."

"Bella," Esme said after another quick look to Carlisle. "You have to understand. My human life was difficult. But I completely believe that it led me to where I am now. And I would never want to give up my life with Carlisle." He grabbed her hand and squeezed it gently. "So if I can use that previous life's knowledge, to better the lives of my children." She stroked my cheek with her free hand. "Then I am glad that I had it."

"Thank you." I said again as I hugged them both.

I left the office and walked down the stairs to the living room. I grabbed a book off the small shelf next to the entertainment center and sat on the couch. When, after ten minutes, I was still on the first page, I gave up trying to read the book. I grabbed the TV remote from the coffee table and flipped the TV on. I scanned through their endless channels, finding absolutely nothing to grab my interest.

I turned the TV back off and laid my head back on the couch. I was hopping that they would be home soon. I needed something to occupy my time until then though. I scanned the room to find something else. I could not continue to sit here doing nothing.

My eyes fixed on the beautiful piano on its platform near the large bay window. I got up and walked over to it slowly. I wouldn't want to have one of my, oh so popular, clumsy moments and destroy Edward's piano. I pulled out the bench slowly and sat down. At first I just hit random keys. Then I started to play simple exercises as they came to me. I played Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater, Mary Had A Little Lamb. And I had just finished playing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star when someone cleared their throat behind me, making me jump.

"I'm sorry." He said trying and failing to hold in his laughter. "I didn't mean to startle you. But I thought you said that you didn't play." He said as he came to sit by me.

"I can't." I answered as I kissed his cheek. "What you do is playing. That was playing around."

"So, would you like to learn?"

"Not really. I like that you are the musical one. Plus, I would never want to ruin something so beautiful."

"Bella, sweetheart, you could never ruin anything." He leaned over and kissed the top of my head. "So," He said looking at his watch. "It is currently 5:10. What would you like for dinner?"

"Wow! Do I actually get a say?"

"Well now that you mention it ..." He kissed me again and picked me up from the bench. "No, now go upstairs and change. You have twenty minutes. Then I am coming to get you, no matter what."

I wasn't sure if he was kidding or not. And I really didn't want to find out. I turned for the stairs, as Edward started to play the piano. I walked up them as fast as I could without falling. When I got into our room I walked to the closet. The guys had put some of my stuff in there when they took it from Charlie's house.

As I was about to give up and just close my eyes, taking what ever my hand landed on, there was a knock on the door. I walked over to it as I said. "That was not twenty minutes Edward. I am still not dressed." I then opened the door to find Carlisle and Esme standing in the hall smiling. "I am so sorry. I thought it was Edward trying to rush me." I said as I blushed with embarrassment.

"That is okay." Esme said with a smile. "Can we come in for a moment?"

"Of course," I said stepping back to let them in.

They closed the door behind them and I went to sit on the couch. Esme came to sit next to me and Carlisle stood in the middle of the room.

"We have a belated graduation gift for you. And before you try to protest you are taking it no matter what."

I had opened my mouth but then closed it. I really should know better by now. So I just nodded my head. Carlisle then shot back out into the hall. When he came back he had a garment bag slung over his arm. "We couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Edward. So we thought that now was a good time to give this to you. You can wear it tonight. Edward doesn't even know we bought it for you. So hear you go. And have fun tonight." Carlisle then handed me the garment bag and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

I blushed and Esme threw her arms around me. "I do hope you like the dress dear. I found it last week. I was going to wait until you were changed to give it to you. But I couldn't wait any longer. Then we heard Edward. So I think you will look wonderful tonight. Good luck dear." She gave me another hug and a kiss on my cheek. Then they both left.

I opened the garment bag and gasped. It was a beautiful black dress with practically no back. There were silver diamond patterns that went down the back and one in the front. I ran to the bathroom and stripped my clothes off. I carefully pulled the dress over my head. As it fell down my body it hit every curve perfectly. It was almost as if it was made for me.

I walked down to Alice's room and grabbed a pair of smaller heals. I knew she wouldn't mind. I then went to the bathroom and put on some silver eye shadow. Then I brushed my hair and put in a butterfly clip. I let my hair sprout over the top and fan back down my neck. I then walked down the stairs slowly. I really didn't want to fall now.

Edward was still at the piano. I was glad he hadn't turned yet. He kept playing my lullaby as I walked up to him. When I was right behind him I tapped his shoulder and cleared my throat. "Does this work?" I asked him.

He turned and gasped. I bit my bottom lip, smiling. He looked like he was about to faint, if he could. I was glad that I could have this affect on him from time to time, as he did it to me all the time. He finally found his voice again as he shot up off the piano bench.

"Where did you get this from?" He asked as he ran his hand up my neck, sending chills down my spine. It came to rest just behind my ear as he pulled my face to his.

When we broke apart I smiled and leaned against his chest. "Carlisle and Esme gave it to me as a late graduation gift. Do you like it? I could change?" I teased.

"Don't you dare," He said growling playfully. "I will be back in a minute. Then we have to go. I now know the perfect place to take you."

When he came back he was wearing a gorgeous navy blue suit. I smiled at him as he wrapped his arm around my waist and led me to the Volvo. I knew that I wasn't going to get an answer, but I had to try. "Edward, where are we going?"

"You will see when we get there. Now relax and enjoy the ride."

I smiled at him and sat back in the seat. Edward took my hand and gave it a slight squeeze. "You look absolutely radiant tonight. I love you."

"I love you too. And you are quite breathtaking yourself." I smiled again and then closed my eyes. I was happy just being in such close proximity to him. But I now had the answers I needed to ease his mind. I would have to find a way during dinner to bring up the subject. This would help to make tomorrow that much better.

"We're here." Edward said snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw that we were at a lovely restaurant. There was a valet in front and a long carpeted walkway to the door. Edward came around and helped me out of the car. Then he gave his keys to the valet. We walked in with our arms hooked at the elbows.

"Table for two?" The host asked giving me an appreciative smile. Edward moved his arm to my waist and nodded. The host then called over a younger man to take us to a table near the window.

I smiled hugely as we got to our table. I saw that the window had a breathtaking view of the currently setting sun. It was too far down to make Edward sparkle. But the sky was still turned beautiful shades of purple and orange. I looked over at Edward and he smiled at me. He then pulled out my chair and helped me sit. The waiter came and asked if he could get us a drink. We ordered cokes and I decided that the present was as good a time as any.

"Edward, I need to talk to you about something. Well, actually, it is a continuation of a previous conversation."

"What is on your mind?" He asked solemnly.

"If you remember, at Wild Waves, we started a very important conversation. And, please don't get mad, but I decided that your thoughts had to be insane. There was no way that anything so wrong could happen once I was changed. So I asked Carlisle and Esme." I said the last part in a whisper.

I looked at him keenly. I wanted to make sure that I was forgiven for telling them about our conversation before I continued. Thankfully the waiter came at that moment with our drinks. I ordered the prime rib and he went away again. I looked back at Edward, who still hadn't spoken.

"Are you mad at me?" I couldn't take the silence anymore. I had to ask him.

"No. I am not mad at you. What did they have to say?"

I could tell that he was distraught. But I couldn't tell what exactly the cause was. I decided that I should just tell him. Then I could find out if I made things worse or better.

"Well, they said that that could never happen, least of all to us, that our bond is too strong. They said that we have nothing to worry about." I decided at that moment that I was not going to tell him the rest of the conversation. That information was really just for me anyway. If I needed to, I would talk to him about it once I was changed. I just hoped that Carlisle and Esme were right and he would prefer the change. Unfortunately, once it was done, it was done, there was no going back.

Edward was now watching the darkened sky. He slowly looked back at me. His eyes were sad; but not as sad as they had been during our initial conversation. I smiled a weak smile to try to lighten the mood. The waiter brought me my dinner and I started to eat. Edward would have to say something eventually.

"Bella." He said as I was finishing up.

"Yes?" I asked looking back at him.

"I am sorry. You know me." He laughed bitterly. "I get so lost in my masochistic thoughts. I know that I said I would never ask again. But I have to. Are you absolutely positive? I would never want you to regret our life together."

"Edward, for the last time, you are stuck with me for eternity. Now please stop the masochism, at least, for a little while. We are going to be married tomorrow." I said with a smile.

"That is right." He smiled at me then. "Come on." He got up and pulled me from my chair. We walked down some stairs to a dance floor where there was a large brass band playing.

"Edward, I don't dance, you know that."

"Humor me please just this once." His eyes smoldered at me. I was such a marshmallow.

"You can be such a complete cheater sometimes. And I humor you all the time." I said as I let him twirl me around the dance floor.

The rest of the night passed in a dizzying whirl. We danced for a long time. Every once in a while the bands conductor would sing the words to the current song. Edward started singing softly in my ear as the band played 'You're Just Too Good Too Be True'. I was in total paradise. Then he broke the spell, by telling me it was time to go home.

We walked back to the table and Edward paid the bill. Then we walked back to the car.

"Thank you so much Edward. It was a lovely evening."

"You are welcome, my love. I am glad you had a good time."

The drive home was spent in silence. I watched as the scenery passed by in a blur. They told me that once I was changed I would learn to appreciate the speed. For now it was enthralling enough, thanks in large part to the motorcycles. I pulled my thoughts from what the motorcycles made me think of and took Edward's hand. He smiled over at me and I smiled back.

"So," He said as we passed Port Angeles. "Tomorrow you are going to be changing your name. How do you feel about that?"

"I never said that I was going to change my name." I teased

"You're not?"

"Edward, I was just playing." I laughed. "I can't wait to be called Ms. Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. It is a dream come true."

"Is it now?" He purred seductively.

"You know it is. I love you Edward, always and Eternity."

"That is good, because I love you too."

We lapsed back into our comfortable silence as we passed into the Forks town limits. I had actually managed to fall asleep in the little time it now took to get to the house. I woke up as Edward lifted me from the car.

"It's okay Bella. We are home. You can go back to sleep now." I yawned and stretched, then I curled back into his arms. I could feel the wind rushing past me, so I knew Edward had started to run. Then he came to a halt and I could vaguely hear Emmett's voice.

"That isn't fair. You brought her back sleeping. How am I going to see her trip while walking up the stairs now?" It took a minute for my brain to comprehend what he had said. But when I did, my face turned hot, I knew I was blushing. I heard Emmett laugh.

"Emmett, you are mean." I tried to sound hurt, I knew he loved my clumsiness, I just could never tell why. I looked over at him and tried to glare. This only made him laugh harder. "Just remember Emmett. I will be changed tomorrow. I will find a way to get you back once I am a vampire. I may need to ask Alice for help. But I will get you back."

"Now that is mean. I am just playing with you Bella." He said this really fast. Did that actually scare him? That was good information to have. I hoped it was not one of the things I would forget. I loved that everyone was so worried about what tiny Alice could do. It gave me hope for myself. I yawned again and Edward started towards the stairs.

"Have a great last night of sleep Bella." Emmett said a little more seriously.

Then Edward started to shake with laughter. "Emmett, please stop." He said smiling.

"What is he doing?" I asked sleepily.

"Singing in his head," Edward answered simply.

"What is he singing?" I asked intrigued.

"'Talking In Your Sleep' by The Romantics."

"What?" I asked him

"You have never heard that song before?"

"I don't know the name and artist of every song I have ever heard. I don't have an everlasting memory, yet."

Edward smiled. "Well, do you want me to sing it to you? So you can understand."

"Sure."

"Are you positive? Think about the title." I nodded. How embarrassing can a song be anyway? "Okay, go get ready for bed. Then I will sing you to sleep."

I went into the bathroom and took a quick shower. I put on my pajamas and brushed my teeth. I then blow dried my hair and went back into the room.

Edward then laid me down on the bed as he started to stroke my hair as he began to sing. "When you close your eyes and you go to sleep. And it's down to the sound of a heartbeat. I can hear the things that you're dreaming about. When you open up your heart and the truth comes out. You tell me that you want me. You tell me that you need me. You tell me that you love me. And I know that I'm right. Cuz I hear it in the night. I hear the secrets that you keep. When you're talking in your sleep. I hear the secrets that you keep. When you're talking in your sleep. When I hold you in my arms at night. Don't you know that you're sleeping in a spotlight. And all your dreams that you keep inside. You're telling me the secrets that you just can't hide. You tell me that you want me. You tell me that you need me. You tell me that you love me. And I know that I'm right. Cuz I hear it in the night. I hear the secrets that you keep. When you're talking in your sleep. I hear the secrets that you keep. When you're talking in your sleep. When you close your eyes. And you fall asleep. Everything about you is a mystery. You tell me that you want me. You tell me that you need me. You tell me that you love me. And I know that I'm right. Cuz I hear it in the night. I hear the secrets that you keep. When you're talking in your sleep. I hear the secrets that you keep. When you're talking in your sleep. I hear the secrets that you keep. When you're talking in your sleep. I hear the secrets that you keep. When you're talking in your sleep."

I really should have known better. I mean, it was Emmett that brought the song up. And he always did everything he could to watch me turn red. I was just glad that we were in our room. The song was very fitting for our situation. But it was still embarrassing that everyone knew. Thankfully this would be my last night of sleep talking. That got me thinking though.

"Edward." I asked as I started to fall into the last peaceful slumber of my life. "Is this something that you will regret losing?"

He was quiet for a moment. But then he smiled my favorite crooked smile. "I will miss it. But I will not regret it. I will now have you awake with me for all time. Now go to sleep my love. You are getting married tomorrow. You need your sleep." He then kissed me as he hummed my lullaby so I could drift off to sleep.


	20. Ch 20: Nightmare

**Disclaimer: As Always I Own Only This Telling Of The Story. But Not The Characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Twenty:**

**Nightmare**

"Dum, dum, da, dum. Dum, dum, da, dum. Dum, dum, da, dum, dum, da, dum, dum, da, dum."

It kept repeating over and over again. I walked down the hall from Edward's room. I slowly walked to the second floor. I opened every door that I came to. But I found no one. I walked back down the hall to the stairs to the first floor. I could still hear the wedding march being hummed. But who was humming it? And where were they?

I then checked the living room, dinning room, and kitchen. Still I found no one. But the humming was getting louder. I went out the glass door in the kitchen, into the back yard. Was I going insane? No! If I was going to go insane it would have happened long ago.

I started to walk around to the front of the house when I caught a glimpse of some light in the trees. I turned, now walking towards the encroaching forest. Just as I was about to enter I was spun forcefully to face the house again.

When my eyes could focus again I realized I was now facing Emmett. He was starring down at me with a terrified look on his face. "What are you thinking, Bella? You know that Victoria is in there with the wolves. You need to go back to your room. Edward would not be happy if you walked right into their trap."

"Emmett, where is everyone? And who keeps humming?" He looked confused now. "Would you please stop humming?" I yelled as I whipped back towards the tree line.

"Bella, why are you yelling?"

I turned back around to find Charlie and Renee in front of me. I looked around, and found I was in an airport. I looked from one to the other. I had been sure that I would never see them again. I ran up to them and gave them each a big hug. I then stepped back. I needed some answers.

"Why are we at the airport? And why are you two together?"

"We came to see you off, silly." Renee said cheerfully.

"Off … to where?" I asked as I looked for Edward and the others. Why could I not find them?

"Who are you looking for honey?" Charlie asked, noticing my glances at anyone but them.

"Edward!" Of course, how could he ask such a stupid question?

"Who is Edward?" Charlie asked skeptically.

"Oh, honey, did you meet a boy in school after all. Are you two going to go to college together?" Renee asked excitedly.

"What are you talking about? Edward? My fiancée," What was wrong with these two?

"Bella, how could you have a fiancée? You have never even had a boyfriend."

"Mom, I know you didn't like us telling you that we are getting married. But you can not just pretend that Edward does not exist. And you can't send me off to college without him." I was really getting annoyed now. And the humming was starting to get louder again. "Stop humming!" I shouted again.

"Wow, you're mad."

"Jasper?" I said as I spun around to face the tall, blond vampire. He was leaning against a bar. I looked up at him in disbelief. What had happened to the airport and my parents?

"So, what are you so mad about? We are the ones that keep risking our necks. And just look what you have done to Edward."

My gaze followed the line of Jasper's arm. Edward was sitting at the end of the bar. There were five empty mugs in front of him. He banged on the counter and demanded another. I decided right there, this is no dream, this is a nightmare. But what was my problem. Why was I dreaming such bizarre things?

I jumped slightly as Jasper leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Liquid courage."

"For what?" I asked before I could stop myself. I had an idea.

"For what he is forced to now do. You have given him no choice. He will not willingly leave you again. But he hates what he must now do."

"You can still change your mind you know."

I looked at Edward again. He was looking so pleadingly at me. As if he was begging me to change my mind and be the one to walk away. His face was so twisted in pain. Why was I doing this to myself? Was I turning masochistic like Edward? And why did my last night of sleep have to be so riddled with pain?

I closed my eyes, willing my mind to give me a good dream. When I opened my eyes again I was standing in the middle of the meadow. The sun was shinning brightly. Edward was just stepping out of the tree line and into the meadow. The sun started to bounce off of his bare torso. How could this God ever have been made for me?

Edward was looking at me in amazement. He was walking so slowly towards me with such a penetrating gaze. I looked down in embarrassment. I would never understand how he could call me beautiful. I quickly looked back up at him questioningly. The sun was dancing off of my bare arms; creating the same rainbow reflections around our meadow.

"Bella, you look even more beautiful. I didn't think it was possible. But here you stand, glowing in all your brilliance." He was right in front of me in less than a second; his lips on mine, our hands in each other's hair.

Now this was a good dream; no, a great dream.

Alas, I spoke too soon. Before I had gotten my full enjoyment, from the kiss, it was over. Edward spun around pushing me protectively behind him. That's when I smelled him, Jacob. He padded out of the forest in his large russet werewolf form.

"What are you doing, Jacob?" I asked from behind Edward's back.

The wolf snarled and bared his gritted teeth. Then I could hear his voice in my head. It was unnerving. I knew that Edward could hear him too because he bent into a crouch and was ready to attack Jacob. I just held on to him tightly.

"Isabella, this is really for the best now. I hopped you would see the error of your ways, before you went too far. That it would finally sink in that I am the right one for you. Not the soulless leech. I could have given you warmth and light, a family. He can only give you a cold, dark eternity. So I will end it for you now; because I can not live with the knowledge of you existing this way." He then ran and leaped at us.

I was shaking with suppressed rage. I noticed that the ground was convulsing with me. I was then pulled to the tree line in the blink of an eye. But the shaking didn't stop. If anything, it got worse. Jacob was still landing when the ground ripped open. He landed in the freshly ripped apart Earth. Then the ground quickly began to seal itself. It was swallowing Jacob up whole. And oddly, I didn't really care.

I stopped shaking, as did the Earth, as the freshly resealed ground reached Jacob's neck. I found myself walking slowly back towards the head that was now oddly sticking out of the ground. I bent down to talk to him. Edward was on my right.

"Jacob, I will give you this one chance. Leave us in peace. Or suffer my wrath. I have put up with a lot from everyone over the past few years. But I have now made a decision for myself. I will not let anyone control my life anymore. No one will be telling me what I can or can not do, will or will not do."

I looked over at Edward. He looked at me alarmed. Almost as if he knew what my next sentence was going to be. I just smiled reassuringly at him. "I will let you up now, Jacob. And you will leave us alone, for eternity. Otherwise I will take matters into my own, obviously, very capable hands. Do you agree or do I have to finish what I have started?"

Edward was not pleased. It was written all over his face. He did not like any of the things that had been said, either by Jacob or by me. But we would deal with that later. At the moment we needed to be united.

Jacob was silent for a long time. Then I heard him in my mind again. I really didn't know how Edward could possibly get used to this sensation.

"I will leave you be. But you must leave, and never come back. Should I see you again; I will not hesitate to kill you all."

"You would be more than welcome to try." Edward said speaking for the first time since Jacob had shown up. "But our family is larger and stronger than yours. And we are nothing like Laurent." Edward was clearly livid now.

Edward then wrapped his arms around my waist as the ground rumbled again. The Earth around Jacob began to soften. He was soon able to leap out of his confines. He looked at us for a moment before shaking his canine head at us.

"Just remember Bella. I will be here to help take you out of your misery. When you finally realize just how wrong of a choice you made."

That was too far. Before Edward could react – I was a little afraid of what his reaction would be – I slammed Jacob into the freshly resealed Earth.

"We will be gone by the end of the week. And you will have the rest of your life to think about all the things you did wrong; and how you should be dead. I will save you this one time. Consider it payback, for the cliff dive. But we better never even smell you again. Goodbye Jacob Black."

With that I grabbed Edward's hand and we raced back to the house. I was already trying to forget Jacob.

However, it seemed that the dream had other plans for us. As we entered the front door, we were now in the car speeding down the highway. I looked over to Edward and found that he had that wildly excited face that always meant that this was a surprise.

"Edward, where are we going?"

"You will see once we get there my dear Mrs. Cullen. He smiled hugely at me. "You wouldn't want to spoil the surprise, would you?"

"Yes, yes I would actually." I smiled back at his pout. I then leaned over and kissed his neck. The car swerved a fraction, making me giggle. Knowing I had such an effect on him always gave me such joy.

"Bella, my love, please stop tempting me at the moment. We still have a bit of a drive. And I would like to get there before night fall."

I sat back in my seat, feigning innocence. Edward laughed and rolled his eyes as he took my hand in his. We drove for hours. When we finally stopped we were in Alaska. We were parked in front of a beautiful two story house. It was huge.

"Welcome to your new home, my love." He said as he lifted me from my seat and ran me into the living room.

"Where is everyone else?" I asked when I couldn't sense any of them around the house.

"Like I said; welcome to _your_ new house. This is ours. But don't worry the others live about ten miles through the forest." He smiled a mischievous grin. "Far enough that we can have some privacy; close enough that we can see them every day; if we so choose that is."

"Some privacy, you say." I said seductively, as I walked slowly towards him. I wrapped my legs around his waist.

"What ever could we use the privacy for?" He said as he lowered his lips to my neck.

I giggled as he ran us up the stairs holding me tightly to him. Then I was alone again. I looked around to find my bearings. I was in the middle of a forest clearing. I could feel eyes on me, but I couldn't locate their owner. However, I got a distinct feeling that they did not belong to a friend.

Then, in the blink of an eye, I was completely surrounded by my family. They were all facing in different directions into the encroaching forest. All of the sudden Edward and Emmett were laying on the ground, twitching in apparent agony. Neither one of them uttered a sound though. I looked up from Edward's shaking form just in time to see Jane step out of the forest.

Alec was on her left. His eyes were locked on Emmett. I looked quickly to Rosalie. She was poised and ready to attack. Jasper put a comforting hand on her shoulder and she calmed a little.

As we watched in horror, Demetri and Felix came to join Jane and Alec. They were surrounded by a few more Volturi guards. Felix was the first to speak.

"Isabella. It is nice to see you again. Aro always did have an eye for finding talent. I will tell you this just once. Jane and Alec are capable of killing. That is what will happen. Unless you come with us now; I will give you one minute to decide your fate. Jane. Alec."

I ran to Edward's side as Rosalie ran to Emmett's. I could see the pain and determination in Edward's eyes. Our family was by our sides. I knew they would fight, so I decided to do things my way.

I looked quickly at Alice. She closed her eyes for a second then smiled. I then threw my arms around Edward. I shook the Earth we were on loose. We shot into the sky. The sudden earthquake stunned the Volturi long enough for us to get the drop on them.

Edward and Emmett were back on their feet now. Carlisle and Jasper were at their sides. Jasper quickly shot in between Jane and Alec. He placed a hand on each of their shoulders. They both slumped to the ground. With the two of them out, the rest were easy to take down.

Once we had them all taken care of we ran. We ran until we ran out of land. When we stopped I tried to figure out where we were. However, being that I had never been anywhere I had no clue. Carlisle then claimed everyone's attention.

"We are going to have to go into hiding. We will stop in Denali and get some supplies from Tanya's family. Then we are going away for a while. I wish we did not have to do this. But the Volturi will soon be after us."

"I am so sorry." I said feeling a sob build in my chest.

"Bella," Edward said, lifting my face so he could look me in the eyes. "You have got to stop apologizing. This was bound to happen. They have been growing wary of our numbers for years. Everything will be fine. You will see. And we will all be together again real soon."

That is when it hit me. The family was splitting up. And it was completely my fault. I was the only one responsible. Carlisle pulled me back out of my thoughts.

"You all know what to do. We will meet at the designated place and time. Take care of yourselves please. And, Bella, I am so sorry that this happened so soon after you joined the family. But we will be together again before you know it."

I ran to him and gave him a bone crushing hug. He was such a father to me. Just as much as he was to Edward, I dare say. I then moved over to Esme as Edward talked quickly to Carlisle.

"Be safe my dear. I shall see you again soon." I hugged her again as Alice materialized at my side.

"Don't forget your best friend, okay." She looked like she wanted to cry as much as I did. We embraced for a long time. Till I was ripped from her small arms and squeezed into a massive chest.

"I will miss you too, Emmett." I said into his shoulder as I threw my arms around his neck.

He put me down without a word; just as Jasper came to give me a hug. "I am only sorry that we will not be able to talk for a while. But you will see. Time tends to go by quickly."

"I will miss you so much Jasper. I owe you so much. Take care of yourself, and my best friend, please."

"He will." Alice said as she hugged us both.

I turned to give Rosalie a hug and was met by total darkness. The switches were starting to get to me. I was pulled so completely into each scene. That by the end I had forgotten that I was still in my dream. I was hopping for the end now though. This was getting exhausting.

"Bella ... Bella ... Please wake up. Please."

Why did Edward sound so desperate? I felt myself coming out of the darkness. I blinked my eyes open. Edward was looking at me with all the worry I was sure would be etched on his face.

"What's the matter?" I asked, worried about his voice and the look in his eyes.

"Bella, you have been tossing and turning for hours." He hesitated for a second before adding. "And crying I was really beginning to worry. What in the world were you dreaming about?"

I thought about his question for a moment. I knew that he would never let me get away with saying that I didn't remember, so, to prolong the moment when I had to relive that weird and more tragic than good dream. I looked out the window to try and gage the time. The sun was still rising, so it must still be early.

I looked back to Edward's face. He was watching me expectantly. I brushed my finger tips across his cheek. I then sat up crossing my legs under the covers. Edward leaned over and kissed my forehead. He then wrapped his strong arms around me, as if to say that I was protected now, and held me to his chest.

I hated the way my stupid, unruly, human reactions affected him sometimes. I felt awful that my last nights sleep brought him so much pain. This was not how it was supposed to happen. But, then again, things had been going so perfectly. Something was bound to happen, eventually.

"Edward, I don't know what you heard. But I am almost positive that it was nothing good. The dream really wasn't all bad, just mostly."

"You are not going to distract me, Bella. I want to know what it was about. Please." He was pleading now. Why did I always bring him so much pain?

I couldn't take it. I took a deep breath and told him my dream; every single detail that I could remember. I had to pause many times. Each time he just held me and waited patiently for me to continue. The longest pause came just before the battle with the Volturi. I had started to cry, thinking about what had come of the battle. Even though I was now positive that it was just a dream. I couldn't stop the pain inside at having the family split up because of me … again.

"Bella, my love," Edward said as he stroked my face lovingly. "It is almost as if your brain is determined to make sure that you don't forget any of the important things from the past year. But you must also remember you have me. I am here to be the gap in your memory. I will remind you of any of the important things that you ... temporarily forget."

"Edward, I love you."

"I love you, too." I snuggled into his chest. He leaned down to whisper in my ear. "Did you realize that we will be husband and wife in just over four hours?"

I smiled hugely as I looked into his glorious face. I loved this man with every fiber of my being. Because of this, noon just couldn't come fast enough.


	21. Ch 21: Beginning of Forever

**Disclaimer: As Always I Own Only This Telling Of The Story. But Not The  
Characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Twenty-One:  
The Beginning of Forever**

"So?" I asked stealthily. "When is Alice coming to play dress up?"

"She was planning on kidnapping you sometime soon. She has some last minute things to give and show you. But don't worry; they aren't anything like the ones from Thursday night. This reminds me. I still haven't seen those," He arched a perfect brow and smiled mischievously.

"And with any luck, you never will." I said as I tried to distract him with a kiss on his chest.

"You know, I can always find out from Alice."

"Then you wonder why I call you a cheater."

"No, I don't wonder why. I wonder how you can notice so easily. You have always surprised me though. You are so perceptive, Bella, you notice things that some vampires never grasp. And the way our abilities don't work on you. Even Jasper can't use his on you all the time. It really is no wonder why everyone wants you."

"But I am yours. Now and forever," I said.

"And I greatly appreciate that. But I still want to know what Alice bought for you."

"I'll make a deal with you."

"What kind of deal?"

I started to kiss his cheek and neck. He always was better at the distracting thing than I was. But this might work. After about five minutes he pulled back from me. I smiled sweetly. He chuckled as he pulled me back to his chest.

"And you call me a cheater. To bad for you I have such a good memory. So, like I was saying, what is this deal?"

I let out an exasperated breath. "Fine, I will show them to you tonight. But you have to realize, that I do not promise to wear any of them. And you can not ask Alice, Rosalie, or Esme about the outfits. Or I will burn them all."

"Even Esme knows?" He looked at me with disbelief clear on his face. "How can they be that bad if Esme has seen them?"

"Your mother would surprise you. Just remember, she is a woman first. Then a mother and vampire; at least that is what I learned about her on Thursday."

Just then there was a soft knock on the door.

"Come in Alice." Edward said with a smile.

"I must say. I really like when Bella is around. She actually distracts you enough for me to keep some visions to myself for once. Thank you Bella; and just so you know, dear brother. You both will be getting a surprise later."

"What did you see Alice?"

"Didn't I just say that it's a surprise? Man, Edward, you really do need to concentrate when Bella is around, don't you."

Edward scowled as we both laughed.

"So how is this going to work exactly? I have been to one wedding in my life. And that was when Renee married Phil. So what do I need to do? And how long is this going to take?"

"Well, you just have to get dressed. Then you sit back and let us take care of everything else. Rosalie went to make some last minute touch ups to the meadow. So Esme and I will be getting you ready today. Edward, I trust you to stay out of our heads for a couple of hours. I realize that that is a lot to ask of you. But you wouldn't want to spoil the day, would you?"

"No. But how long will this take? When are we leaving? And won't I see her anyway, when I drive her to the meadow?"

"We are leaving at about eleven thirty, eleven forty-five. And, nice try, I will be driving Bella to the meadow in her car. You will be in the Volvo with Jazz. Carlisle and Esme are taking Emmett in the Mercedes. Oh and here you two go."

She handed us each a piece of paper. I unfolded mine and read it. It was the most beautiful wedding vows I had ever heard. "Alice, these are beautiful. How did you know I wanted to write my own vows?"

"Bella, think of who you are asking; I had a vision yesterday. I then wrote them down for you. Now, do you think you can memorize them by noon?"

"Yes and thank you."

"You're welcome. I am sorry Edward, but I have to take her now. Emmett and Jasper are waiting for you in Rosalie and Emmett's room."

"Well, Miss Swan, are you ready for this?"

"Yes, Mr. Cullen, I believe I am."

I smiled as he gave me our last un-married kiss. Then I let Alice drag me from the room. Since that was the only way I would currently be able to leave Edward's arms.

Esme was sitting on the bed, cross legged, waiting for us, when we got into Alice and Jasper's room. She smiled as we entered and got up to give me a hug. A few happy tears fell from my eyes and Esme laughed softly as she wiped them away.

"Just a little longer my dear; we are so happy for the both of you. And believe me when I say we are just as anxious as you are."

Alice then came and gave me a big hug. "Well, my friends, my sister, are you ready?"

"Yes, more than you can possibly know."

She giggled as she ran to the closet and pulled out the four dresses. She laid their three on the bed and brought me mine. Go take a shower and put this on. We will take care of the rest."

I nodded and went into the bathroom. I took a quick shower making sure to wash my hair quickly. I had a little time. But not so much that I could just lounge in the shower. I got out and dried off completely. I pulled the dress on and gasped. I had almost forgotten how beautiful the dress was. I knew that Edward would love it. And I couldn't wait to see his face when I started to walk through the meadow in it. I went back into the room and sat on the chair they had placed in the center of the room for me.

Esme then took Rosalie's traditional role of hair duty. She blow dried it and put hot rollers on just the bottom. Then she pulled the front back in some beautiful silver butterfly clips. Then she strategically placed real flowers around the crown of my head.

Alice, mean while. Put on my makeup. She put on some eye liner, eye shadow and mascara. She then looked through a couple of lipsticks. She finally chose a very light ruby one. When she was done they both stepped back to admire their work; Esme then picked up a camera that was on the bed. She took a couple of pictures then told me to sit back down. Alice gave me some silver high heals that laced up my calf and a garter that I was to pull all the way up to my mid thigh.

The door then opened and we all looked to see Rosalie come in.

"Is everything taken care of?" Esme asked her.

"Of course, Bella, you look beautiful."

"Thank you Rosalie." I said turning a deep shade of red.

Alice laughed as she said. "And that is why I didn't use any blush. No man made color could compare to Bella's natural blush." I turned even redder and they all laughed lightly.

"We will be back in a couple of minutes." Esme said as she kissed my cheek and ran from the room with her dress. Alice and Rosalie grabbed their dresses too and went into the bathroom. While they were gone I repeated the vows to myself over and over again. I needed to memorize them. They came back about five minutes later; dresses on, hair and makeup done. They looked gorgeous, of course.

"You both look so beautiful."

"Thank you." they said in unison.

Esme then returned, looking amazing in her wine colored dress.

"Esme, you look breathtaking."

"Thank you my dear." She said with a smile as she sat back on the bed between Alice and Rosalie. "Now, we have something for you before we get going." She turned around and grabbed a box off of the bed. She opened it up and handed me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers I had ever seen.

"We took our time and came up with the perfect bouquet for you." Alice said as she came up to me. They then took turns telling me what the different flowers meant.

"To start, we have lavender Roses. They represent enchantment."

"The Daisies represent loyalty in love."

"The white Stephamotis represents happiness in marriage and a desire to travel."

"The blue Iris represents faith and hope."

"The yellow Iris is for passion."

"The violet Gloxina represents love at first sight."

"And the Freesia has many meanings. The traditional is innocence and thoughtfulness. It also represents your smell to Edward. We picked the pink Freesia for your blush."

By now I must have looked insane. I am sure my grin could be described as big and dopey. My face was red and I was sure that they could feel the heat across the hall.

They really had put a lot of thought into this though. Even the simple act of picking out the bouquet was done with the utmost seriousness.

"Thank you all so much. I will never be able to repay you for everything you have done for me."

"Well, I wouldn't say that." Alice chided. "You never know what is going to happen in the future." We all laughed as Alice started for the door.

"Okay, Edward and Jasper are gone. We better not make them wait too long. Who knows what Edward will do if he is left alone for too long." We all laughed again.

"It's already eleven thirty?" I asked her.

"No. But there is a surprise at the meadow." Rosalie said with a wicked gleam in her eyes.

"What have you done now?"

"We didn't do anything." Alice said indicating Rosalie and herself. What in the world had Esme done now?

"Esme?" I asked questioningly, not able to keep the worry from my voice.

"You will find out when we get there. And stop worrying. It is nothing bad."

"So let's go!" Alice said excitedly as she jumped up and down at the door.

We walked down the stairs and into the living room. There we met up wit Carlisle and Emmett.

"Wow, Bella, you look beautiful." Emmett said, making me blush again.

"You really do, Bella." Carlisle agreed.

"Okay everyone; stop gawking at the bride before Edward finds out." Alice said laughing. "Let's go. Before Edward comes back to see what is taking us so long."

We then got into our respective cars and drove to the meadow. We were there in five minutes. I used the time to make sure that I had remembered my vows. I would not want to look like an idiot in front of my family. As I got out of the car I tripped on my long vale. Just then two stone arms wrapped around me. A soft female voice I had never heard before then filled my ears.

"I heard that you were clumsy, but that was more than I could have guessed."

I turned around to find out who the owner of the voice was. When I turned I was met with four of the most beautiful vampires I had ever seen. I don't know how Rosalie could stand to be in even the same state as them. I could do nothing but stand there stupidly and stare at them. Suddenly Alice's wind chime laugh broke my rude gawking.

"Bella, this is Tanya, Irina, Kate, and Carmen. You will meet Eleazar in a moment.

"You're the Denali Coven." I said stupidly. My brain still had not completely come back to life.

Tanya started to laugh as she stepped forward to shake my hand. "It is very nice to finally meet you Miss Bella Swan." She said in a beautifully enchanting voice.

"Same here," I said. "I have heard so much about you. I am so glad you are here. But, how did you find out about the wedding?"

"Well, we have been keeping close tabs on our dear Edward for some time now. Then Esme sent us an invitation to his wedding. How could we possibly pass up the opportunity to meet the one person that could do what we could not?"

"And what was that?" I asked skeptically. How could _I_ do anything that they could not?

"Why, make him fall in love, of course. But we can talk about all of that later. Don't we have a wedding to get started?"

"Yes, we do." Carlisle said backing up from Kate and Irina.

Alice was suddenly by my side. "We are going to run you to just outside the meadow. Then Rosalie and I will walk down with Emmett and Jasper. I was talking with Carmen earlier. She said that, if you want, Eleazar can walk you down the aisle. But it is okay if you don't want him too. We know that you do not know him."

"Are you sure? I don't want to make him. But I really don't want to walk down the aisle by myself."

"Bella, we would never let you walk alone."

"Okay, so what did you have in mind?"

"Do you want Eleazar to walk you down or not?"

"If you already had a plan then we can just do that. I just hope that Eleazar doesn't take it personal."

"No, that is quite alright." Carmen said as she came up to us "We will go take out seats now. You are a very beautiful bride Miss Bella. I look forward to talking to you later."

I mumbled embarrassed thanks and they all laughed as I turned red. Then they all turned and ran into the forest. Alice then held her arms open for me. I held on to her tightly as she ran us to the meadow. When she stopped we all made sure that our hair and dresses were still perfect.

Emmett and Jasper then shot into the trees and to their wives sides. I could hear the wedding march start to play on a piano. It made me think momentarily about my dream. If I never heard that music again it would be too soon. Suddenly the music stopped and I squeaked in surprise as Jasper and Emmett shot back into the trees.

Jasper let out a wave of calm as Emmett took one of my arms in his. Jasper then took the other arm and they both smiled down at me.

"I know you didn't think that we were going to let our sister walk alone?" Emmett asked.

I smiled up at the both of them. Tears were freely coming down my cheeks. Emmett wiped them away with a soft chuckle. "It's time to go." He said as music broke the silence again. It was my lullaby. As we broke out of the line of trees I saw Carlisle standing right in front of me. But Edward was not there. I looked towards the source of the music. There he was. Staring at me as he sat at the piano, playing the music he had composed for me. Could this be any more perfect?"

I suddenly felt like I was in a dream again. One of the ones you have as a small child, the kind that causes you deja vu for the rest of your life. That is, until your dream finally does come true. This was my dream come true. A dream I had never known I was dreaming. But now it was my life. And life could not get any better than this.

Emmett and Jasper stopped walking and each gave me a kiss on the cheek. I smiled as they took their places, as did Edward. He grabbed my hands in his and gave me a quick wink as Carlisle started the ceremony.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today; in the sight of God, and these witnesses, to join in holy matrimony, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen and Isabella Marie Swan. If there be any here that believe that these two should not be joined, let them speak now, or forever hold their peace."

He then paused for a moment. Edward let go of my hands and turned quickly towards Emmett to glare. Emmett just snickered and shrugged his shoulders. I looked questioningly at Edward. He shook his head and looked back to Carlisle. After another second I did too. Then Carlisle continued.

"Now, these two have written some vows that they would like to share with each other. Edward, if you would please start."

Edward took my hands in his again and looked deep into my eyes. "My dearest Bella, Loving someone deeply gives you strength. Being loved deeply gives you courage. You are my first love. You are my real love. I love you, not only, for whom you are. But for whom I am when I am with you. For what you have done with my life. I love you for making me happy ... good ... and whole. This is what you do for me just by being yourself. No one else could do that, only you."

"When we are apart; we feel the lack of the other half of ourselves; incomplete, like a book in two volumes of which one has been lost. Our love is a friendship set to music. With an endless love, we will share our thoughts, dreams, and ourselves. As I become your husband this day. Remember that my love for you is eternal."

I could feel the tears streaming down my face. Edward smiled down at me as he wiped them away. Carlisle then spoke again.

"Bella, it is your turn, dear."

I took a calming breath as I heard quiet chuckles. I then looked deep into Edward's liquid topaz eyes. I then recited the vows that Alice had written so perfectly for me.

"My dearest Edward; loving you has given me strength. The love I have received from you has given me unbelievable courage. You are my first love, my real love. Someone who is treasured, as I treasure you can be separated by distance and time ... Yet, upon returning, the love resumes as if they were never apart; because, in out hearts, we have always been together."

"Edward, my angel, as I become your wife on this day; I want you to know that you are my 'Soul Mate' for all eternity. You are my world, my life, my everything. My love is eternally yours."

"Now, with the giving and receiving of the rings we bind these two together forever. Edward, would you please place the ring on Bella's finger and repeat after me?"

Edward turned and was handed a ring by Jasper. He slipped it on my finger with a triumphant smile. I looked down at the ring. This was way too much. It was beautiful, of course, but it was way too much. It had more tiny diamonds than I could count. And the one in the middle was huge. I wish he could tone down the spending. But I should really know better by now. But I could not deny that it was beautiful, and I loved it.

I looked back up at him and tried to glare. But he smiled his gorgeous crooked smile and my heart melted. I would find a way to get him back for this. I was suddenly hit with the realization that I had nothing to do with the picking of his ring. I was going to have to trust that Alice had me in mind as well as Edward when she got it. I'm pretty sure she would. I hoped.

"Cheater," I mouthed to Edward. He smiled larger as Carlisle started to speak again.

"I, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen,"

"I, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen,"

"Do solemnly swear."

"Do solemnly swear."

"To love, honor, and cherish."

"To love, honor, and cherish."

"Isabella Marie Swan."

"Isabella Marie Cullen, I mean Swan." Everyone started to laugh.

"Until the end of eternity,"

"Until the end of eternity,"

Carlisle then turned to me. "Bella, if you would please place the ring on Edward's finger and repeat after me," he said

I turned to Alice and she handed me a simple band, that I am sure was platinum, with five diamonds set into it. It was simple and gorgeous. I knew I could count on her. I always did say not to bet against Alice. I was happy to be right. I then placed the ring on Edward and smiled up at him.

"I, Isabella Marie Swan,"

"I, Isabella Marie Swan,"

"Do solemnly swear."

"Do solemnly swear."

"To love, honor, and cherish."

"To love, honor, and cherish."

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen."

"Edward Anthony Masen Cullen."

"Until the end of eternity,"

"Until the end of eternity,"

"Now, with the power vested in me. I pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Everyone cheered loudly as Edward leaned down to give me our first kiss as a married couple. I smiled hugely as he pulled back and picked me up. We stared into each other's eyes for a moment. Then he said sweetly. "Now the fun begins."

**AN: I would like to thank prpurpledragon for the beautiful vows you wrote for me. I am forever grateful to you. I would also like to thank esthermarie again for the beta work. I love you both. I truly do not know what I would do without the two of you.**


	22. Ch 22: Reminicing

**Disclaimer: As Always I Own Only This Telling Of The Story. But Not The  
Characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Twenty-Two:**

**Reminiscing**

I was sure that this would be a night to remember. I just hoped that I would once I was changed. That was something that always struck me as odd. Edward always said that he wanted me to have as many human experiences as possible. Yet he also said that human memories fade. So what was the point, if I would most likely forget them anyway? Maybe that was the point; he was still unwilling to actually turn me. No, I was over thinking; I needed to calm down.

"What are you thinking about?"

I looked quickly over to Edward. "You," I told him truthfully. "And the craziness that is sure to be in store for me tonight."

Edward smiled his glorious crooked smile. He then picked up our entwined hands and kissed the back of mine.

"I love you Isabella Marie Cullen."

"I love you Edward Anthony Masen Cullen."

I laid my head on his shoulder as we shot down the highway to the house. When we got there I noticed that we were the last to arrive. Edward shot around to my side and lifted me out of the car. He ran to the porch then stopped for a second, he smiled down at me then leaned down to kiss me as he opened the door and walked us over the threshold.

"Very nice; tradition is beautiful isn't it. Gotta go," Alice said really fast as she pulled me from Edward's arms and ran us to her room.

"What was that about?" I asked once I got over the shock.

"You can't possibly think I am going to let you party in that dress. Here put this on," I smiled at her as she handed me a navy blue dress and some dark blue flats.

"Thanks." I said as I went into the bathroom to change. I really did mean it. I was so glad she didn't give me another pair of heels. I carefully took off the dress and put it on the hanger I had left on the back of the door. I stood back and looked at it for a moment. It was such a beautiful dress. I was almost sad that I would never wear it again. Who knew, maybe in a century or two we would like to renew our vows. If we did this would forever be my only wedding dress.

"Bella, your guests are waiting." Alice said impatiently.

"The bride should never be rushed on her wedding day." I called back to her smugly.

"Fine then, your husband is waiting." she called again.

I don't think I will ever be able to describe the feeling that coursed through me as she said "my husband". It was amazing. I Isabella Marie Swan am now Isabella Marie Cullen. I have one of the four most wonderful men in the world as my husband. And tonight I will be changed. How did my life end up so perfect?

I quickly pulled the dress on and put on the shoes. I walked out of the bathroom and to the middle of the room. "How's that?" I asked her as I held my arms up in the air and twirled for her.

"Perfect," I heard a velvety voice say as I was scooped back up and whisked out the door. I laughed as I wrapped my arms around Edward's neck. He ran down the stairs and out the back door. When he stopped he put me down and kissed me passionately. I forgot all about the party, all about the many other vampires surrounding us, all about the fact that I still had to breathe. Only when I was seconds from passing out from lack of oxygen did Edward break the kiss. He then took one step back from me and, with a chuckle, announced to the crowd "May I present Mrs. Isabella Marie Cullen."

Everyone clapped as Esme came to my side and gave me a hug and kiss. "Just a little longer my dear and you will truly be with us forever."

I smiled hugely as Alice and Rosalie walked up to us with Tanya and her family.

"Bella dear," Tanya said. "This is Eleazar."

I stepped forward to shake his hand. "Nice to finally meet you," I said as I stepped back into Edward's arms.

"Same here; we have heard much about you Bella. I must say, you are everything they said you would be." then he gave me the most perplexing look. I was startled when Edward started to shake around me. I looked up to see him positively beaming. But what was he laughing about?

"What?" I said as I looked back to Eleazar. I figured that he was the one to say whatever had Edward so entertained. Edward wrapped his arm around me a little tighter.

"It seams our friend Eleazar here can't read you."

"Can't read me?" I said slowly.

"Yes, but I really don't need to be able to, do I Edward? I can read you; can I not?"

"And what do you see?" I asked before I could stop myself.

Eleazar looked at me and smiled. "He is now more complete than I have ever seen anyone in all my considerable time."

I smiled hugely. That was so good to hear. Especially when coming from someone outside of the family. It was nice to know that others saw it too.

"Come Bella let's leave the men to their boring conversation." Tanya said as she pulled me from Edward's arms. Edward let out a playful growl as he relinquished me to her. I smiled as he leaned down to kiss me first.

"So Bella," Irina said as we walked back into the house to sit comfortably in the living room. Once we were all seated I realized that all the women were now in the house. I looked out the back wall and Edward turned and winked at me. I smiled and turned to Irina who continued her thought. "When is Edward going to change you?"

"Tonight," I said happily and instantaneously.

"A little eager, are we?" Kate laughed.

"Wouldn't you be too; if you got to then be with Edward forever?" Kate asked her with a dreamy look on her face.

The entire living room then erupted into laughter. Okay, what was I missing now? I looked over to Esme, hoping that she would give me a clue at least. But it was Tanya who answered my unasked question.

"Oh, my lovely Bella; has no one told you of our two families' first meeting?"

"No." I said shakily as I looked over to Alice who was sitting across from me.

"Well this will be fun." Kate said with a wicked glint in her eyes.

"Kate!" Tanya said forcefully. "You are going to give poor Bella here the wrong idea entirely. Now, Bella." she said looking from Kate to me. "You know, I'm sure, the Cullens lived not far from us when they lived in Alaska." I shook my head. I didn't think I could trust my voice at the moment.

"I think we need to back this up a little." Irina said looking from me to Tanya then back to me. "Bella, has anyone told you what we are?"

I looked at her skeptically. What was that supposed to mean. 'What they are?' They are vampires, like the Cullens. "Vampires?" I said questioningly. I really didn't get the question. All four of them started to laugh.

"No, silly Bella, I mean what we do?" I shook my head.

"Have you ever heard of a Succubus?" Carmen asked.

"As in Greek mythology? Like the demons that seduce and kill men once they are unfaithful?"

"You got it!" Irina said with a huge smile on her face.

Then Tanya took over again. "So anyway, when we finally came upon each other we thought we would have a little fun. At first we only met Carlisle, Mrs. Cullen, and dear Edward. They told us of the others, but we didn't meet them right away." Tanya looked out the back wall to make sure that Edward wasn't within ear shot, I'm sure. "Well, once we met the others we found it to be wrong to destroy such happy couples."

"But our dear little Edward was not attached." Kate threw in.

Tanya threw her a look that made her sit back in her chair and start playing with her hair. "As I was saying; we decided to take turns to see who could win our dear Edward's heart. I went first. Now, keep in mind dear that I am over a thousand years old. I have used every trick in the book in my time. I even added a couple myself. In my quest to try to win Edward's affection I learned that he likes to play chess."

Tanya closed her eyes lovingly. As if she was recalling a truly wondrous memory. "Yes, that was a truly exquisite time. We played night after night after night. I used the time to patiently find a weakness in his ability. And in this time he proved to be a delightful challenge."

"I will always remember the night of his downfall. I worked long and hard on that code that took all of his concentration off the game. It was a true work of genius. I made up my own names for the pieces and their moves. I then used only those words as we played making sure that I didn't slip and picture the pieces in my mind. He was so preoccupied that he didn't even realize what I was doing. And then, when I won. Oh Bella, that look on his face was pure gold," Tanya flashed me another huge smile. "But even then I could not truly break his defenses. And now here we sit, in the presence of the one being actually able to get to Edward without even trying."

"Wait a minute Tanya. You are getting ahead of the story." Irina smiled sweetly as she turned from Tanya to me. "Although I am sure that I was the most forward. I still don't think I got as bad of a brush off as Kate," Kate nodded in agreement. "But I was the next to take action."

"What did you do to him?" I could not believe that they were telling me all of this. Like it was some fond story you tell your great-grandchildren about the crazy things you did when you were their age. But still, nothing could have prepared me for what was to come out of Irina's mouth.

"I wasted no time in using Tanya's information to try to win him. Since we now knew that he could read images in our minds. So I decided that was how I was going to get him. I would show him just how much fun we could have. It was to my total advantage that when I arrived at their home he was taking a shower. So I decided to bombard his mind with pictures of us together. Even though it was easy enough for his body to succumb, he is a man after all, his mind kept him at bay."

"He seemed so determined not to be another notch on our belts. He once said that once he found the one he was to be with, even though he may not be her first, she would be his. And they would be each other's last. Which brings up an interesting question; will he be your first or your last?"

I was so shocked that she had just asked me that. I turned a bright red and shifted my gaze to Alice for help. Alice laughed quietly as she nodded in Irina's direction. Irina then started to giggle too.

"Well, I guess you two really were made for each other. So, anyway, I was having my fun. One day I followed him as he ran from the house trying to avoid me. We ran deep into the forest that surrounded the Cullen home. Once he finally stopped I continued to bombard him with intimate images of the two of us. He was starting to get frustrated so I stopped and stripped for him. Maybe that would help to motivate him. I could see that he liked what he saw. I remember, that is when he told me that his body had bad taste," The room erupted in laughter again. "He then left me in the middle of the forest, naked I might add, and ran home to mommy," They all laughed again.

I turned to Kate. "I am guessing you were next."

"I was last, although I did have fun with my chance. I learned from my sister's mistakes. I gave him some time to let his guard down. Then I took him far from everyone else. I actually showed him a secret of mine. I then used my power -"

"Your power; what can you do?" I asked cutting her off.

"I can control people's actions. I, in a sense, froze him where he stood. I told him that I would let him up if he gave me a kiss. I thought for a moment that I may have actually broken him down. Though I am sure I would not have gotten even that far without my sisters."

"Did you get your kiss?" I asked worriedly.

"Alas no; he proved to be more than a match for me. He is a slick one; let me warn you that. He told me that he could no longer run from us. Once I released him from my power he stood up and brought me to him. He then grabbed my hand and kissed the back of it. I was spell bound to say the least. I had told him all I wanted was one kiss. And that is what he gave me."

I could not believe what I had just heard from these three exquisitely gorgeous vampires. They had taken turns trying to seduce Edward. And they had all failed at the last moment. I was speechless. Carmen then tuned to me. "Are you alright Bella?"

"Fine," I said after a moment. The room erupted in laughter yet again. "And Alice thought the Cullen's weapons supply was superfluous. You give hunter a whole new name."

"You look flush Bella."

"Why is she flush?" A hard voice asked. As Edward came to me and pulled me from the couch he turned to Tanya. "I cannot believe you. I left you alone for half an hour and that is what you do with your time?" Tanya laughed.

"Come outside Bella. Carlisle wants to talk to you."

"Oh, Edward, you are so sensitive." Irina chided. Edward ignored her and took me outside.

Carlisle and Eleazar were standing just by the back door. Jasper and Emmett seemed to be putting together some kind of tile floor in the middle of the lawn. We walked up to Carlisle and Eleazar. They both smiled at me and I at them.

"Are you alright Bella?" Carlisle asked as we approached them.

"Tanya and the others were filling her in on our time in Alaska."

Carlisle nodded knowingly. Eleazar smiled slightly. I could tell that they both wanted to laugh. Edward did not look amused though. I held on to him as he did me. Then Carlisle reached out and took my hand.

"Bella dear, I was wondering what your plans for tonight were. I know that the two of you were planning on the change happening tonight. And I wanted to know when that would be. I also want to make sure you knew that once you are changed that we will be leaving Forks. I am not sure for how long. But once the treaty is broken we can not stay here."

"Where will we go?" I asked sadly. It wasn't that I would miss the people of the town. But I would miss the town itself. This little rain drenched hole in the ground of a town. It gave me so much. I am sure that I would get over it, if I even remembered any of this; but I still would have liked to stay here. This house alone always felt more like home than anywhere I have ever lived; including Phoenix. I hoped that we would not have to be gone long. That way I could come back to the beautiful white house that gave me so much hope for a future.

"I figured that we could go to Alaska for a while. We could stay there for a couple of years while you get accustomed to your new life. Then we could always see what happens."

"It would be nice to travel again." Edward said, his eyes alight, I smiled at him and he leaned down to kiss me softly.

"Ready," Emmett boomed.

"I think that that sounds good. I would like to see your house in Denali. So I guess, once I wake up we will be leaving. I am sorry that you have to leave because of me."

"Don't worry about it." Carlisle said. "This is a move we have been looking forward to for some time now."

Carlisle then smiled at me as Edward walked me over the tile flooring. We walked to the middle of it and some music started to play softly in the background. As Edward twirled me around the impromptu dance floor I forgot about everything and everyone. I was so happy. The music was all light and romantic. It was like they had the perfect wedding soundtrack. Every once in a while Edward would sing various lines from the songs to me. But mostly we just danced in silence, loving the closeness of each other.

After, I don't know how long, but I noticed that the sun was setting and the back yard was alight with dozens of tiki torches, Carlisle came and tapped Edward on the shoulder. "May I cut in?" he asked looking from Edward to me. Edward smiled and released me to his father. I smiled and blushed furiously.

"I am not a good dancer," I told him. "You will have to be patient with me."

Carlisle smiled and took his position. "We will have to change that. Now won't we." he began to dance me around the floor. He was as good a leader as Edward. After a couple of moments he slowed in his waltz and looked me straight in the eye. "You are truly a unique young woman. I have been around for many centuries. And I have never met another like yourself. Nor do I think I will in the future. I just wanted you to know that we are all overjoyed that you are joining the family. Edward is a very lucky man."

"Thank you very much. I am so glad that I met Edward. If I hadn't I really do not know where I would be at this moment. I would probably be sitting at Charlie's bored out of my mind waiting for my mother to call and ask me to come to Florida for the summer. So I really do owe you. I owe you so much." Carlisle had stopped dancing and was now wiping away the tears I hadn't noticed were now running down my cheeks.

He hugged me gently and whispered in my ear. "You do not owe us anything. We are the ones that owe you. I am sure you have heard it before. But you really have changed our entire family for the better. If you don't believe me, just look at Jasper. You have made him so much stronger then he believed that he could ever become. We are a family, and we stick together. You are our new glue; without you, we already know that we will fall apart. Today is the first day of a new life for you. I am so glad I will get to be there from the beginning."

"Thank you so much. I appreciate it so much. And I love you all too, so much," Carlisle hugged me again. I just stood there in his arms. It was so nice to have a father's arms around me again.

"Excuse me. Can I have my wife back; believe you have your own." Edward smiled as I let go of Carlisle and shifted over to his arms instead.

"Well, I think I will go and find my wife. I will talk to you both later."

As he walked away Edward spun me and then recaptured me in his arms. "How about we sneak back in the house they would never notice." He winked at me as he led me slowly from the dance floor. Once we made it into the kitchen Edward picked me up and ran us to his room. He sat me down on the couch and put on a CD of his works. Then he sat down next to me.

"Bella, I know that I have done everything in my power to hold off changing you. And you, being the person you are, you have actually ridden out my selfishness. I thank you for that. And I want you to know that I am ready. I truly am. I just have one request first."

"And what would that be?"

He leaned down and started to kiss my collar bone, then my neck, then my cheek, then the hollow under my ear. Then he whispered in my ear. "First you have to show me what Alice bought you."

I immediately stiffened. "I was hoping that you would forget about that."

"Do you know me at all?" he chuckled.

"Okay. But you have to keep in mind. I stand by what I said before. I do not plan on ever wearing any of this." I got off the couch and pulled the box out from under the bed. "Actually, you can have this. I give it to you as a gift, because I truly do not want to see any of that again for as long as I live."

"You can't mean that."

"Yes I do. I love you and I am going to go change now." I took a step towards the bathroom then I turned. "Edward, you are going to change me tonight right?"

He looked up at me seriously. "Yes. But I think it would be best if we wait for a little while. No need to end the party. Besides, I think I need Carlisle around." He looked back to the box in his hands. "Just in case," He added quietly.

I walked back to him and lifted his face in my hands. "Edward, I love you. I am going to spend the rest of forever with you. If you need Carlisle here then I will go and get him right now. I know you think that I am looking for death. But I am not. I am just looking for the easiest way to spend forever with you. And this is the only way. You know that. So, now I will give you five minutes to look at your new present. Then I will be back with Carlisle and Alice. I will tell the others that they can, I don't know. But I will be back in five minutes and then ... You are going to change me." I leaned down and kissed him hard.

I walked out of the room and back into the back yard. I found Alice first. I told her that it was time and she smiled hugely. We then went to grab Carlisle. I walked over to Tanya and asked her for a moment.

"Is there something wrong Bella?"

"No. I just wanted to tell you. I am so happy to have met you. I am sorry though. I will be unavoidably detained for the next three days. But I do hope that after that we can talk again."

"I look forward to that," she smiled and gave me a kiss on my cheek.

I then walked back into the house with Carlisle and Alice. We walked up to Edward's room and walked in. Alice ran back out for a second and came back with a little black outfit for me. I walked into the bathroom and changed. When I came back out I walked straight to the bed to lie down next to Edward.

"I love you." he said as he leaned down and started to kiss my neck. Then, before I knew it, his teeth were breaking through my skin. I arched my back as the pain shot through me. I was determined not to scream. I was not going to cry out. I was going to be strong. I chose this. I was getting my most desired wish. I would do nothing to make Edward's masochism shine through. He was not to regret doing this. I never would; I was determined that he never did either.

**For any of you wanting to know where these wonderful recollections come from. Read Eowyn77's Fair Game. It is an awesome story. I thank you so much Eowyn for letting me borrow it. I suggest you all read all of her stories. But you can only read Overnighter if you have first read Fair Game. Once again thank you esthermarie for all of your help. To those of you that have been waiting for the rest of my story. Thank you for hanging with me. I was borrowing other's works. I wanted to make sure it was perfect. I could not mess this chapter up. But this is still not the end. So don't worry.**


	23. Ch 23: New Descoveries

**Disclaimer: As always I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank You.**

**Chapter Twenty-Three:**

**New Discoveries**

In my determination to not let the pain control me I let my mind wonder. I was quite amazed at what shot to my head. I could think only one thing. He bit me … Edward actually bit me. The last two years of determined non-compliance were nothing now. I was being turned by Edward's own doing.

I then felt a smile curve up the edges of my lips. Edward pulled back from my throat minutely. I jumped as I felt his tongue lick gently around the area of the bite. Then he backed up from me completely and placed a bandage on my neck.

"I love you," He said softly.

"I know; and I love you."

He then flashed me his beautiful crooked smile. My heart started to race; with the quickening of my heart came the true pain as the venom spread faster. It seemed to be shooting through me like a bullet. Yet I still refused to cry out. I bit my lower lip and scrunched the sheet in my fists. Edward's face contorted in worry.

"You knew this was coming." Carlisle said to Edward as he placed his hand on Edward's shoulder. "All you can do now is bring her whatever comfort there is."

Edward nodded to his father and lay down next to me. Alice sat beside me and tried to sooth my already aching muscles. I watched as Carlisle left then turned to stare into Edward's beautiful topaz eyes. They turned soft as I continued to look into them. He then bent his face to mine and kissed me lightly.

"Bella … it's okay … you do not have to be strong now. That is why we are here. It is alright, I know it hurts. Just let it out."

I closed my eyes for a moment. Could I really? Would that just play into his masochism? I couldn't do that. Just then I felt a cold hand wiping gently across my cheek.

"Just let it out Bella." He whispered in my ear.

At that moment my heart seemed to quiver. Then a wave of fire spread through my body with an intensity far beyond anything I had ever felt before. I didn't mean for it to happen. I really wanted to be the strong one for once. But the pain was so strong. My back arched in pain and my hands shot to my chest as I screamed as loud as I could.

Edward wrapped his arms around me securely. He held me close to his body. It felt so good. His frigid body was cooling the fire. I was so glad that he was not letting me go. Alice soon got up and kissed my cheek.

"I will be downstairs if you need anything at all," She then went around to the other side of the bed. Alice kissed Edward's cheek and said to him. "I am so proud of you. I told you that you could do it."

"Thank you so much, Alice."

She then walked out turning off the light as she went. I tried to calm my breathing but the pain was making it impossible. Edward held me to him lightly with one hand while he stroked my hair with the other.

With the lights off the room was slightly aglow with the light of the tiki torches outside. After a while the pain seemed to dull. I did not, for one second, allow myself to think that the lull would last. So I took advantage of it.

"Edward, thank you so much. This has truly been a day of dreams come true. I am so glad that we were able to make it this far. And I plan on making it through the next three days so I can show you just how glad I am."

"Do you now?" He said as he raised one perfect eyebrow. "And how do you plan on doing that?"

"That is a secret; you will have to wait patiently for."

"That was mean Bella. You really do know how to crush a man."

"I am sorry. I really am not in any condition to make it up to you right now. I promise I will soon though."

"I will hold you to that." He kissed me again.

I then could not hold in the scream as pain racked my body again. Edward just laid next to me, holding me tightly to him. We both knew that there was nothing we could do now but wait it out. As the sun came up the next day I was reaching my limit. The pain was getting excruciating. It felt like someone was doing acupuncture on my entire body using swords. I had to constantly remind myself that this was not going to last forever. Yet it couldn't possibly be over soon enough.

Edward never left my side. He stayed laying next to me whispering soothing words in my ear and stroking my hair and face, even kissing me from time to time. As the sun started to set again the pain was starting to affect my control. My limbs were twitching and jerking. I was also starting to lose consciousness.

Edward then whispered in my ear, "It is okay, Bella, close your eyes. It will help it to all be over faster." When he noticed that I was losing this particular battle. I had managed to keep my screams to a bare minimal. Only when I absolutely could not hold them anymore did they manage to escape my lips. And when this happened Edward would always tighten his hold on me.

I didn't notice when I lost the battle completely. But I obviously had. For when I opened my eyes everything was different. Nothing had changed, but nothing looked the same. My vision had improved dramatically. Not that I had bad vision before. My sight had just been heightened to an infinitesimal degree.

I could see everything, every detail of every item. I could see each speck of pollen in the air. I turned my head to the right. And there he was, my own personal Greek God. Edward still had his arms around me but his head was now bent so his forehead rested on my shoulder. If I didn't know any better I would think he was sleeping.

"Edward?" I whispered softly.

Edward's head shot up at the sound of my voice. "Bella," He breathed. Then he squeezed me so tight I couldn't breathe. He loosened his grip and started kissing all over my neck and face. "Bella, I was so worried. You have been out for far longer than you should have been."

I was amazed to hear this. It didn't feel like I had been asleep for very long. "How long has it been?"

"It has now been five days since I bit you. We were starting to worry. Alice kept saying that everything was fine. But there was no reason for your change to take so long. Carlisle decided that it might help everyone stop worrying if they went back to Denali with Tanya's family. They are getting everything in order for our official move. Carlisle, Esme, Alice, and Jasper should be home soon though." He stopped talking for a moment and squeezed me again. "You had me so worried."

"It's okay, see, its okay. I am fine now." I smiled as I pulled him to me. He smelled just as wonderful as always. I was glad that his scent hadn't changed.

"Bella," He choked "You have a bit more strength then you used to. You will need to be careful until you are used to your new self. How are you feeling? Are you thirsty? I should really take you hunting. That was the first thing that the rest of us had to do when we became aware again. It's the worst when you first wake up. The first year is bad, but the first time is the absolute worst." He was speaking so fast now. I could hear the relief in his voice that I was now up. I could tell that he really was scared that I would never wake again.

"Slow down Edward. I think I feel fine, I mean, I don't really feel any different. But the pain is now gone. And …" I closed my eyes and concentrated on how I was feeling "No, I am not thirsty. But if you think we should go hunt then lead the way. You would know best."

He looked at me then, quite perplexed. "You aren't thirsty? At all? Are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure."

"Okay then we don't have to go right now. But you must tell me the second you think you are becoming thirsty, please. I do not want to take any chances. New vampires can be very hard to control once thirst strikes them."

"I will." I smiled

Edward smiled back. "Thank you."

Edward then bent down to give me a kiss. It started out quite normal. Then, once we both realized that we didn't need to hold back anymore it grew more urgent. My right hand slid slowly up his back to his neck then twined in his hair, securing him to me. One of his hands was also twined in my hair; the other was softly stroking my back. We kept kissing for so long that we both ran out of air. These were true kisses, not the chaste ones that he would give me before. I was in complete heaven.

Edward then rolled us so that he was lying on top of me; still managing to not break the kiss. This was the natural progression of our relationship. We were, after all, married now. I smiled as I realized what was to come next. Soon Edward's pants and shirt were gone. He was now lying on me in just his boxers; still not stopping the kisses. Then, as his hands were about to pull off my shirt too, he stopped.

"Bella, I'm sorry." He sat up quickly and I sat up with him. I could see shame in his eyes before he turned them away from me.

"For what?" I asked trying to get him to look back at me again.

"That was out of line. I think I should get dressed." He was making to get off the bed when I pulled him back onto it. I turned his face so that he was looking at me. Well his face was facing me anyway.

"Edward, look at me." He slowly looked me in the eyes. "I don't, and I don't think I know how to take this turn of events. Here I was feeling overdressed. I guess I was wrong." I then made to get off the bed myself.

"Bella,"

I turned back to Edward. "Edward did we or did we not get married?"

"Of course we did."

"Then why do you look like you did something wrong? And why are you trying to put your clothes back on?"

"Bella I – "

"If the next words out of your mouth are an apology then I don't want to hear it." My anger was building and this whole situation was turning out so completely wrong. I had to find a way to fix this. "Unless it is to say that you are sorry for stopping us." I said as I pulled myself closer to him again.

Edward ran a finger around the outline of my lips. Then he leaned in to kiss me again. He then murmured against my lips. "I am sorry Bella. Old habits die hard."

"Well you better work on killing that habit, quickly." I said as I pulled him back down onto the bed with me.

Edward chuckled as he bent down to kiss my neck then my collar bone. I ran my hands through his silky hair. I was overjoyed that the moment was not lost completely. It didn't take long to get things back where we were. We made love far into the night. Then we lay in the bed, Edward's arms around me with his hands resting on my stomach, my back was pressed against his chest as we watched the sun come up.

As it cascaded into the room by the wall size window and landed on us it shot rainbows all over the room. It was quite a site. I picked my arm up and watched the sun play off of it. I then smiled as I snuggled farther into Edward's chest. He seemed just as happy as I was.

After all this was exactly how I wanted to spend the rest of forever. We lay in silence just happy to have the other in our arms. Then the silence was shattered by Edward's phone. He got up off the bed and located his pants. He pulled the small phone from the pocket and flipped it open.

"Yes Alice?" He answered with a smile. "Okay … Okay … I'll take her now … I'll see you when you get home … I will and I love you too. Bye."

He closed the phone and tossed it onto the couch. He then crawled back into bed with me and wrapped his arms around me burying his face in my hair. "It seems Alice had a vision. They know that you are awake. They are on their way home and will be here in a couple of hours. So as much as I would love to lay here with you forever; I think we should shower and get dressed. Then I can take you hunting before the others get home."

"If we must," I sighed as I sat up.

I went into the bathroom and took a quick shower. I came back into the room wrapped in nothing but a towel. Edward had me in his arms before I could blink. "I thought we were going to go hunting?" He whispered into my ear as he ran his hands down my sides.

"Edward, I forgot to take some clothes in with me. Now go take your shower and we can go." He kissed me before complying. I walked into the closet and got dressed quickly. I sat on the couch and watched the mountain scene from the bedroom window. I hoped that our next bedroom would have a similar view. This was so peaceful.

Edward was soon out of the shower and dressed to go. We went out the back door and headed toward the forest. My first hunt, this was going to be interesting. I just hopped that I didn't make a fool of myself. Edward was almost to the tree line when I stopped him.

"Edward, are you going to teach me what I need to do?"

"Don't worry Bella; everything you need to know is built into you already. All you have to do is give into your instincts. I have complete faith in you."

"Thank you." I said as I stretched on my tip toes to kiss his lips. He picked me up so that I didn't have to stretch. When he placed me back on the ground he took my hand in his and started for the forest again.


	24. Ch 24: Surprises For Edward

**Disclaimer: As always, I own only this telling of the story, but not the characters. Thank you.**

**Chapter Twenty four:**

**Surprises for Edward**

I was so glad when we got home. Hunting was not the total nightmare I thought it would be. Edward was very patient with me, as always. He told me that my instincts would take over when we got closer. He was right again. As soon as we were a mile from the herd I was doubled over in pain from the thirst that I hadn't noticed till now.

"Bella," He said concerned. "Just give in to it. Follow your instincts; they will not lead you wrong."

I did just that. I took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and before I knew it I was running. As I entered the clearing I saw the small herd of maybe eight deer. I took down four before the rest scattered to the forest cover. I was trying to go after them when Edward caught me around the waist and held me in place.

"Okay, Bella, I think that is enough."

"What!?" I asked still trying to make it to the trees.

"You need to stop now."

"Why?" I asked wheeling on him eyes wide with uncontrolled thirst.

"Bella, calm down," He said as he pulled me to his chest. "Just breath, slow and deep, it will calm you."

I had no choice but to comply. He knew what he was talking about. I knew that he would not steer me wrong. He never had before.

"I'm sorry." I said as I lowered my head holding tighter to him.

"There is nothing to be sorry for." He smiled and stroked his fingers across my cheek. "You just got a little carried away. Everything is fine; and now it is time to go home."

He wrapped his arms around my waist again and led me back towards the house. Okay, so maybe it wasn't the greatest hunt; but it was only my first. When we got home Alice ran to me and hugged me tightly.

"I am so glad that you are finally awake. I wasn't worried, mind you; it was just a little disconcerting not seeing your eyes open for so long. Oh and Edward Jasper wanted to know if you would go hunting with him. He needs to go; but I wanted to spend a little alone time with my sister." She winked at me as she hugged me again.

"I don't think that would be such a good idea." Edward said. I looked down, ashamed again of my despicable lack of control earlier. "Bella, love, don't be so hard on yourself. It was only your first hunt after all."

He pulled me from Alice's arms and wrapped his own around me. "It will get easier to control, if not …" He kissed my lips softly as he stared into my eyes. "We move to Antarctica."

Alice burst out laughing as did Edward. Wait a minute. Why did he say Antarctica? Had he finally found out about the batchlorette party? I really couldn't help but smile as their laughter was so infectious. "Are you going to go with Jasper?" I asked Edward.

"Carlisle and Esme are here to keep you two out of trouble. So … I think I will." He needed it also. I was sure that he hadn't left my side for a moment once I had lost consciousness. He wouldn't have wanted me to wake up with him not at my side. I couldn't help but love him more for that thought.

"I love you." I said as I kissed his cheek. He pulled me closer for a real kiss. I was delighted by these new boundless kisses. I suddenly wanted him to leave, just so that he could return. I couldn't believe that I was already anticipating his return. He hadn't even left yet. I was going to go insane while he was gone. Thankfully I had Alice though.

"I love you, too." He said when he finally relinquished my lips.

Jasper then appeared next to Alice. "I am so happy that you have officially joined the family, Bella. And that you are now awake to enjoy that fact."

Edward, Alice and Jasper all smiled. I stepped forward and gave Jasper a hug. I was overjoyed when he hugged me back. As I went to step back to Edward Alice threw her arms around me and looked over at the guys. "Well, we will be seeing you two when you get back."

"Don't be too long though." I said as they headed for Edward's Volvo.

We waved goodbye to the guys as they drove down the drive. Once they were out of sight Alice pulled me into the house. "We have a lot to do and not much time to do it."

"What do you mean?"

"You want to do something special for Edward, correct?"

"Yes, but …"

"For his birthday right?"

"How did you know?"

"Bella, please," She rolled her eyes at me and pulled me to a couch in the living room. "I saw the whole thing while you were asleep. You really do have a great mind. You probably didn't even notice what your brain was doing through all the pain. I know that Edward will love it though."

I looked at her confused. "So what did my brilliant mind come up with?"

"I will tell you as we take care of the details. Now come on. We are going to Port Angeles."

"Are you crazy Alice? I can't go there. There is absolutely no way that I can be around people."

"I don't really know how, but I do know that you will be fine. I saw it all remember."

I stared at her disbelievingly. But I was forced to cave when her determined look changed to hurt. I thought quickly and finally decided to lay on the line what she was gambling with. "I am, trusting you now Alice. I am, trusting you to be strong enough to keep me true to the Cullen code of Ethics. Please don't let me fail already. I … I can't …"

"Bella, have faith in me. You really should know by now that we will do everything in our power to keep you safe. I would never compel you to do something that would harm you or allow you to harm others."

"I know Alice, I am just scared. I can't disappoint Edward, or Carlisle. I would die if I did."

"Bella, they both love you and they would understand if something happened accidentally. It isn't like they would punish you for having an accident. But it really doesn't matter, so get that look off your face," I looked up at her quickly as her tone got sharper. I hadn't noticed my expression and I was now looking quite forlorn. "Everything will be just fine now let's get going."

We walked out to the garage and looked around for which car to take. That was when I noticed that most of the cars were gone. "What happened, where is my car?"

Alice laughed quietly. "We took it up to Denali already."

"I haven't even gotten to drive it yet." I pouted.

"Don't worry, Bella, you will have an eternity to drive it once we leave here."

I couldn't help but smile as that sunk in. I am really going to live for an eternity with this family that I love more than anything. "So which car are we going to take?"

"The Mercedes," Alice said matter-of-factly. "And I am driving." I pouted again when she said that. But it wasn't my car so I really didn't want to take a chance of destroying it.

"So what are we doing exactly?" I asked as we sped down the street to Port Angeles.

"Well, let's see. Today is already the eighteenth and Edward's birthday is the twentieth. So first we are going to get the presents, then we are going to Seattle to get your plane tickets, then we are going home and we will make all your reservations."

"Plane tickets, reservations? Where are we going? And who all is going?"

"Bella, who do you think will be going. This is your birthday present for Edward; just the two of you."

A smile spread across my lips that I could not hide. Me and Edward, alone, in another state, for who knows how long; this was going to be great. But what had I come up with to do for his birthday? I could remember before all of this happened I wanted to get him some kind of music box. Or maybe even something for his piano. I always felt so at ease when he played for me. I also wanted to get away with him. But all of that seemed impossible once everything exploded. But maybe it wasn't. As a matter of fact it seemed even more possible now. I could feel Alice's positive attitude working on me. I was really excited now to be able to do this for him. He had given me so much that I was happy to be able to give him this one thing.

He had told me before that they didn't really celebrate their birthdays. But I was hopping that we could change that; at least for a little while. I didn't mind celebrating other people's birthdays. And maybe I wouldn't mind celebrating my own now that I wouldn't really be getting older. We would have to see. Right now the focus was Edward though. I had total confidence in Alice to make sure that Edward loved whatever it is we got him.

When we got to Port Angeles we went to the same strip of boutiques where we got the wedding clothes. On the opposite side of the street was a San Francisco Music Box Co. Alice parked in front of it and sat in the car for a moment.

"Are you sure about this Alice?" I asked her skeptically.

"I told you Bella, I don't know how or why, but everything will be fine."

"I really hope that you are right."

We got out of the car and I walked into the store holding my breath the whole time. When we got inside Alice came to my side and poked it. "You need to breathe Bella."

"Actually I don't." I said quietly

"Bella, would you please trust me."

"Here goes nothing." Or everything,

I slowly took in a breath and scrunched my nose in distaste. There was one other person in the store. The clerk behind the counter seemed to of been wiping off the counter; but with our entrance he stopped and looked over at us. The air around the little shop was thick with that rusty, salty smell I would always smell when there was exposed blood around me. I quickly whispered this to Alice and she nodded in understanding. The funny thing was that the smell was strong, but not strong enough to make me want to retch or pass out as it had before. I guess this was a good thing. At least I knew that I could give Edward a birthday to remember now.

We looked around for a while before I found the perfect snow globe. Alice took it to the register and asked how much it would cost to have the music custom made and have it delivered by the morning of the Twentieth. The man told her and she pulled out her wallet and gave the man her platinum card. She then handed him the music that was to be put in the glob and told him where to send the globe when it was done.

Next we went to a specialty music store and Alice had the liner papers made. They were perfect. I really didn't know why I had come along. Alice was doing all the work. I was about to ask her when she told me that I was with her so that I could get out of the house for a little while. I thanked her and we continued on with our errands.

When we got home I was happy to be there. I was almost dreading the time when we would have to leave. But I was beyond thrilled that this time when the Cullen's left Forks I would get to go with them. Getting everything set for Edward's birthday took hardly any time. We were home with nothing to do and tons of time to kill before the guys would be home. So to take up the time Alice suggested that we pack the bags.

I was a little skeptical of her packing abilities. She never made me look bad, quite the contrary. But how was I supposed to pull off the outfit correctly without her there with me. I was also a little scared when I saw that she found Edward's box of goodies that I had given him. I had told her that I was never going to wear those clothes. I had told Edward that also. Leave it to Alice to completely disregard what I say when it comes to wardrobe. I would just have to find a way to not let Edward know that I have the skimpy lingerie with me. I may be able to pull it off; though I highly doubted it.

By the time we had ended our argument over what goes, and what will be burned the first chance I got, we still had half a day to kill. Alice had seen that the guys would be home early on Sunday morning. So now I just had to last the night and Edward would be back in my arms. Alice and I decided to have an old fashioned slumber party. We of course nixed a lot of the activities. However, we had a girlie movie marathon, then she did my hair and makeup, then we gave each other pedicures. It was a lot of fun actually and it helped the time go by. We ended up watching a marathon of movies set in the early nineteen hundreds. I was very glad that I couldn't cry anymore. Sometime around four in the morning Esme came down and joined us.

Once Esme came down; the time seemed to slip by even faster. We turned the movies off and turned on some music. We then talked about whatever popped into our heads. They told me a lot about the many places that they have lived and the many places they knew that Edward wanted to show me. Esme then got into a long description of the house that awaited us in Denali. It sounded so beautiful. I really couldn't wait to see it.

From what they were telling me when Edward and I left for his little birthday surprise the others would be taking a few last items up to our new house. We would then be returning to the house in Denali. So this was actually my last few days in Forks for a while. I thought about that for a little while and then I asked them if we could take a quick trip. Of course, they said that we could go anywhere I wanted to. So I asked them to come with me to Charlie's house. I would need their support. I also wanted to do this away from Edward. I would not do anything to help his masochism.

We got into Carlisle's Mercedes and Esme drove us to Charlie's. We got out of the car and could all here that he was just getting up. We walked to the door and knocked. I had half a mind to turn tail and run but this was my last chance to talk to Charlie face to face. I was not going to leave town like a chicken and leave him to worry.

"Who is it?" Charlie asked as he came to the door.

"It's me dad." I said softly.

"Bella!" I could hear the elation in his voice. I didn't need Edward's gift to know that he was hoping that I was coming back to stay. He opened the door and threw his arms around me. "Bella, your freezing, come inside." As he pulled me in he noticed Esme and Alice standing a few feet behind me. "Good morning ladies." He then said quickly. "Come in."

"Thank you, Charlie." Esme said as they came in and sat in the living room with me.

"So … To what do I owe the honor of your visit?" He asked eyeing us all in turn.

"Dad I have something to tell you. I want you to sit down and listen, no interruptions please." For a moment it looked like he was going to argue but then he looked at Esme and sat in the recliner. I took a deep breath and started. "Dad, I love you. You know that, at least you should know that." I looked him straight in the eyes hoping that he was taking me seriously and really listening to me. "We are moving. Carlisle has been offered a great position at a new hospital and we all think that he should take it. It is a great opportunity for him. He will get to be the head of the trauma team. The family wants to go with and support him. And Edward and I are going with. I am sorry that this is such short notice but we can't let him pass up this opportunity. You know how good of a doctor he is. And I refuse to be the reason that the family is broken up. The decision was just decided and the family will be leaving tomorrow. However, Edward and I will be leaving at noon today. I don't know if you know but tomorrow will be Edward's birthday. I have a special present planned." I smiled at Alice as I thought of all she had done to help make this his best birthday ever. "We are going to New York for the next couple of days then we are going to meet the family. So we are here to say goodbye. I really am sorry that this is so last minute but that is just how things work sometimes. I want to thank you for letting me come to live with you. This has been a truly eye opening experience. Truly, thank you for everything. I hope you know how much you mean to me. I will always think of you. But there comes a time when everyone has to strike out from their parents. Dad, you are a wonderful father, and human being. Thank you." I got up and kissed his cheek. He was completely stunned.

After five minutes of silence I took his hand in mine and looked into his eyes. "Dad I love you. I may come back and visit, you never know. But for now, goodbye."

I then stood up and walked towards the door. I could here Esme and Alice saying their thanks and goodbyes. I walked straight out the door and to the car. I didn't know how much longer I could be here without sobbing uncontrollably. I wanted to be home before Edward though. I didn't want him to know about this little trip. I therefore did not want to be sobbing when he got home. Esme and Alice were at the car in seconds. Alice looked at my face as I sat in the back seat with the door open. She could see my determination.

She then put her hand on my shoulder and closed her eyes. When she opened them again she had a slight smile on her face. Everything will be fine. He will be sad for a little while, that is to be expected, but he will move on and be able to live his life. He will never forget you, or forgive Edward, but he will be fine."

"Thank you Alice, I really do not know what I would do without you."

"No problem Bella. Now we have to get home. Otherwise the guys will get there first."

I closed the door and Esme and Alice got in the car. We shot back to the house in order to beat Edward and Jasper. When we got home we sat in the living room in silence. Esme and Alice seemed to know that I needed a little time to collect myself.

"Thank you, both of you. I really am glad that I got that done with. I also am glad that you were there with me. You are great moral support. I owe you both so much. I owe the family so much. You have dealt with so much because of me. I only hope that now that I am officially a part of the family I can pay you back for all the love and … protection and … support you have given me these last two years. I love you all so much."

"Bella, dear, it is truly obvious that you do not see what you do to and for this family. True we have been together for a long time. And our bond is unbreakable. But you have given us a new sealant. You have given us a wholeness that we didn't realize that we were lacking. Edward is obviously the most changed, but you have changed us all. Being with you everyday has made us all stronger. You have given us an unrealized goal. We needed to make Edward realize that he was not able to live without you. And in doing so we realized we aren't able to either."

I stared at Esme as she told me all of this. She was never one to say something just to make you feel better. She would always do all she could to make you feel better; but she wouldn't say just anything to do so. She told the truth in words that made you realize what she was saying was the absolute truth. But how could this be the truth. How could they possibly need me as much as I needed them? Still, I couldn't deny a single word she said.

Before I was able to say a word Alice stepped in. "The guys will be home soon. I suggest we start thinking about something else. However, if you need reassurances Bella, you could always talk to the guys. They would never steer you wrong Carlisle especially."

"No Alice," I said with a smile. "I believe you. And I thank you both."

Esme then turned on the TV, and switched it to a movie channel. The current movie was some remake of Romeo and Juliet. We watched it just to have something to do. As we heard the Volvo's return Esme excused herself from the living room and went to join Carlisle in his office. It didn't take long before I was in Edward's arms again. I was beside myself with joy.

"Jeez Bella," Jasper said. "If I had known that your homecoming feelings were able to rival Edward's I wouldn't have kept him out so long." I knew that if I had still been human I would be deep red at the moment. Jasper laughed as he and Alice headed up to their room. "Have fun. See you when you get home." He said.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Edward asked.

"Come upstairs with me and I will tell you."

"Gladly," Edward smiled his crooked smile as he picked me up and ran us to the room.

"You know that I can do that too now, right?"

"Yes, but I like it better when I do it."

He then looked around the room and saw that there were two suit cases packed and sitting by the door. He cocked an eye brow and looked at me intently as I led him to the couch.

"I have a little surprise for you. We are going on a little vacation. We have a plane to catch at two o'clock. I will tell you the rest when the time comes."

"Bella," He looked so sad all of the sudden but I had an idea of what the next thing out of his mouth was going to be. "As much as I would love to go away with you; I really don't think it would be right to tempt you right now." I was right.

"Edward, my love," I gave him a gentle kiss on the lips. "Everything will be fine. It is all taken care of everything has been prepared in your absence. We are going on a little trip and you are going to enjoy it. I have Alice's guarantee on that."

"Bella,"

"No Edward, you do not understand. I can't really explain it. But I can be around humans. I was in Port Angeles just yesterday. If you do not believe me ask Carlisle or Alice since she was the one who took me." I was debating with myself whether or not I was actually going to tell him that last part. But I really had no reason to hide it. And nothing happened so it was no big deal. I could instantly see that it was a big deal to Edward. He looked like he could hit something. Not me obviously, he would never do a thing like that, but I was instantly worried about the window-wall.

"Alice took you to Port Angeles?" His voice was soft but I could tell that he was fighting to keep it that way.

"Yes, she did, and we had a great day."

"You had a great day of shopping?" He asked skeptically.

"Yes, I did." I wasn't going to tell him at the moment that the shopping was actually done for him.

"So what you are saying is that you are somehow immune to human blood and we are going on our honeymoon finally?"

"I guess you could look at it that way. Yes that sounds like a great way to put it." I couldn't stop the huge smile from lighting my face.

"And we leave in an hour and a half?"

"Yes, and the bags are already packed all we have to do is drive to the Airport. Carlisle and Esme have plans for the day but I am sure that Alice and Jasper will come with us so that the Volvo makes it to Denali."

"Sounds good, but what to do for the next hour and a half is the real question?"

"What in deed."

Alice was able to plan everything down to the tiniest detail. I have no idea how she did it, or when for that matter, but she made sure that we got a private balcony at the theater and that Edward was able to drive around New York in style. When we landed there was a limo waiting to take us to the Waldorf Astoria. He smiled hugely as we walked up to the man holding a Cullen sign.

When we walked into the hotel I walked up to the desk and smiled as I said "Mr. and Mrs. Cullen." I saw out of the corner of my eye that Edward smiled too.

"Yes ma'am." The receptionist said as she eyed Edward. I smiled as he wrapped his arms around me. "Here are your keys. You will be in the presidential suite. Enjoy your stay, and don't hesitate to call down if you need anything."

We walked to the elevators and took it to the top floor. When we walked into the room the bellhop placed our bags near the bed and walked back out wishing us a pleasant stay. The suite was enormous. There was a large sitting room that had a large plasma television in it with a DVD player attached. On the other side of the room was a wet bar with a large array of liquor. There was also a mini fridge and a microwave. There was a small hall just off of the bar. About half way down the hall was the bathroom. It had a large Jacuzzi tub and a shower unit with six shower heads. That looked extremely interesting. Continuing down the hall we found the bedroom. It was large, almost as large as Edward's room in Forks. There was a large king size bed with a gold quilt set draped over it. There was also a plasma screen TV in here sitting atop a cherry wood dresser. One entire wall was made of mirrors. There was a slight break in them every three feet or so. Edward walked over to the first one and moved it to the side. This was the door to the closet.

Edward walked back into the main room and grabbed the bags. He placed them on the bed and started to open them. I quickly pulled mine from him. He cocked one eye brow at me. I smiled sweetly and tossed the bag into the closet. I then tossed his in as well.

"Let's go sightseeing." I said. "I have never been here before."

"Your wish is my command." He smiled and wrapped his arm around my waist. We then walked back to the elevator and took it down to the main lobby. Edward was about to get us a cab when I grabbed his arm and pulled him to the side.

"I have a surprise for you."

"And what is that my love?"

"Come with me." We went back to the front desk. I told the girl that we needed our car brought around. She nodded and walked away. When she came back she said that it would be just a minute. That it would be brought to the main entrance. We then walked outside. When we got there the valet was just stepping out of a shinny, silver, Aston Healey waiting for us. The valet walked up to Edward, who had been eyeing the car longingly, and asked him, "Mr. Cullen?"

"Yes," said Edward.

"Enjoy." Said the valet as he handed Edward the key,

"Bella, what did you do?"

"Nothing, you can thank Alice for that. I just told her that you would need a car to drive while we were here. She said to leave it to her, so I did."

Edward bent down and kissed me. When he stood straight again he had a huge smile on his face. He opened the door for me then went around to his side. When he got in the driver's seat and started the car he turned to me with that smile still plastered on. "So, where to?"

"Where ever you want to go. I really do not care. My only request is that we are back by noon tomorrow."

"That is your only criteria? Then how about we just go for a nighttime drive? New York is really very pretty at night. There also some great forest areas around. You know, just in case."

"That sounds perfect."

We drove for hours. Edward drove his normal breakneck speed of course but I was still able to see everything. Once we got out of the city he was able to really put on the speed though. I completely loved our little joyride. We were silent as we watched the scenery pass us by. Edward eventually came to a stop on a small side road that looked hardly used. He was out of the car and around to my door in no time. He helped me out of the car and we walked down a little forest path into the forest.

Once again I was overcome with a thirst I hadn't noticed was there. Somehow Edward always knew when it came on, even if I didn't. We hunted for a few hours. I was happy that I was able to better control myself this time. We found some large stags and some deer. I was having fun playing games with Edward in the forest when I noticed the sun coming up. I happened to be in a tree at the moment trying to hide from Edward, hoping that the strong smell of the pine trees would mask my scent. I really should have known better. Nothing could ever mask my scent from Edward.

Edward was a way better hunter than I was. I never even heard him approach. Then before I knew it I was on the ground with him straddling me. He was growling in my ear and running his hands up and down my sides. I smiled and flipped us. I then kissed him and tried to get up.

"Where do you think you are going?" He asked as he pulled me back down onto himself.

"I was just noticing that the sun is rising and we really need to get back to the hotel. We need to be at the room at noon."

"Why is that?"

"It is a surprise."

"Another surprise? How many more are there?"

"Enough, now please release me so that we can go. I don't want to take the chance of being late. We can continue this later, I promise."

"I will hold you to that."

"I am sure you will."

We made it to the car in a rather short amount of time. Then Edward drove us back to the hotel. We got there with time to spare. When we got to the room we went to sit on the couch. Edward looked at me expectantly. I gave him a look that told him he had to be patient for just a little bit longer. He continued to stair at me as the time lagged on. At noon there was a knock on the door. I pulled him back down onto the couch as he got up to answer it. I then ran to the door and got the delivery.

I gave the kid at the door a tip and walked back to the common area to give it to Edward. I sat down next to him and put the box on the coffee table. I then took Edward's hands in mine and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Edward, I know that there are a lot of things that you have not told me about yourself. Not out of lack out trust or wanting but lack of time. You have had a very busy existence. But I have managed to gain some insight into your past, from Alice of course. Do you happen to know what day it is?"

Edward took a minute to think then said dully, "June twentieth."

"Correct, and your birthday. I would like to first thank you for giving me the greatest gift in the world in time for me giving you your gift. I would also like to say that I know that you said that you do not really celebrate birthdays, but I was hoping that we could suspend that this once, for me."

Edward nodded then started to speak. I placed my hand over his mouth and continued. "I have a couple of things for you. This is the first one." I handed him the box. He opened it and pulled out the snow globe. The bottom was covered in small animals but inside the globe was a lion touching noses with a lamb. There was a small banner on it that said 'Peace on Earth'. Edward tuned it over and twinned the knob. When he let it go it was silent for a second. Then it started to play my lullaby.

"Bella, this is a wonderful gift. How did you do this?"

"This is what Alice and I were doing in Port Angeles. I have another present for you. I walked into the bedroom and came back out with my suitcase. I opened it up and pulled out the box inside. Edward quickly opened the suitcase again. The top layer of clothes was the sexy lingerie. Edward raised one perfect brow at me and grabbed one out.

"Well I guess you did say that you would not ware them as long as you live. I guess it is a good thing for me that you are technically dead." He smiled his crooked smile at me and I grabbed it and threw it back into the suitcase. I handed the box to him as he looked at me skeptically. "And here I was hoping those," He pointed to the suitcase. "Were my present," He got a wicked glint in his eyes and pulled me to him. I smiled and kissed him passionately.

"Just open it please."

"You did not have to do this you know. I am perfectly fine with your presence as a present."

"Well I am not. You are always doing things for me and buying me things. It was time I did something for you. Now open it please."

Edward opened the box and smiled hugely. Inside were five hundred sheets of liner papers for his personal compositions. Across the top they said. 'From the Piano of Edward Cullen'. Edward put the box down on the table next to the snow globe. He then pulled me onto his lap and started to kiss me. I was glad that he truly did like these gifts. I could only hope that he would like the ones still to come.

After a little while I pulled back and stood up. "Edward, there is more."

"Bella, this is too much. What have you got coming next?"

"Nothing next is where we are going tonight at seven o'clock. We are going to the theater. We are going to see the play of Beauty and the Beast. And then we will be coming back for your last present."

"And what will that be?"

"That is a surprise that you will just have to wait for."

"You have been hanging out with Alice a little too much. You can really be evil when you want to be."

"Just keep that in mind for future references."

"Don't worry, I will. I have a very good memory. So what do we do for the next six hours?"

"Well, I hear that New York has many cultural spots. Let's go check them out."

"If that is what you want my love?"

"It is."

We spent the next couple of hours just walking around and seeing the sights. I was very glad that I was not here with Alice as we walked down Fifth Avenue. There were so many shops that I actually thought I would like to check out. But I was still glad that I wasn't here with Alice. We walked back to the hotel in time for me to get dressed for the theater.

I had brought my black pixy dress to wear to the play. I put on some light makeup and went to the common area to wait for Edward. He was actually already there waiting for me. He rushed forward and crushed me to him.

"Bella, you look so beautiful. I am truly the luckiest man in the world. I can not wait till we get back. I would love to see what you have on under that."

I bit my bottom lip and decided to toy with him. "And what if I do not have anything on under it?"

His eyes grew large and he crushed me to the wall. "Then I really hope that those tickets weren't too hard for Alice to get."

"Edward, we are not blowing off the play." My voice was firm but I was sure he heard the slight elation that tinged it in response to his reaction. "You will just have to wait to find out."

"Bella, you are truly evil."

"I learned from the best."

"I will let Alice know that you said that."

"You go right ahead."

I then walked from the room to the elevator. Edward was by my side again in the blink of an eye. He pushed the elevator button then started to kiss me again. I was really enjoying the beginning of my new life. I was sure that the next forever would be just as wonderful.

**AN: I am really sorry but I think this story is coming to an end. I have a chapter started that was going to be my first chapter for a sequel. I no longer feel I have the time to write a sequel. I may be able to find time but for now I think that I will use that chapter as my Epilouge to Dreams. By doing this I will be able to continue with the story if and when I am able to. A little sneek peek - The Epilouge will be called First Anniversary. Thank you to all of my loyal fans. I will try to make my next creation perfect from the get go. But to those of you that do not go back and reread previous chapters I want you to know that I have fixed my grammer and spelling in all the chapters. However, I am human, so I can make mistakes. If I nissed anything just send me a message. Untill the next time JEXENA **


	25. Epilogue

**I would like to thank Ranma15177 for her help in editing this chapter. I am so sorry that it took so long, but I wanted it perfect. I truly believe that this was the absolute best I could do. So with no further adu...**

Epilogue:

First Anniversary

Was this a dream? It must be. What had I ever done in my life to deserve such happiness? I tried to open my eyes, unwillingly ending the dream; only to find that they were already open. This really was my life. My dreams come true. My fantasies turned to reality.

"What are you thinking about?" Edward, my love, my life, my husband turned from facing the road to ask.

"Is this really real?" I said before thinking.

"Is what really real?" Edward asked

"Well, the list itself is a little long. So I will start with the most important one." His look was truly quizzical now. "I can not believe that this is our first anniversary. This year went by so fast. Even though there were times that I did not believe that I would actually make it through. I am almost glad that it is over."

"I understand." Edward said as he turned his attention back to the road.

"Do you? Do you really? I mean, I realize that this means that I can manage the thirst. However, now I will lose my extra strength; not to mention my excuse of being a newborn whenever I go too far when hunting. On top of …"

"Bella, first of all I know for a fact that there are some in the family that will be very happy to see you lose said extra strength." I smiled knowing full well that Emmett would be ecstatic once he could beat me in a wrestling match. Secondly, you have never gone overboard with the hunting anyway. As to me truly understanding, yes I do. I have been where you are. Even though times have drastically changed since my transformation, and you have never been typical, even as a human. I still understand the dream aspect of it all. I sometimes find myself watching you; just waiting for you to disappear into a puff of smoke."

"Do you think we will still feel this way when we have been together as long as Carlisle and Esme?" I asked as I turned to Edward.

"I believe we will, but is that truly a bad thing?" Edward asked back.

"Not at all," I smiled at him as I took his hand in mine.

I could not wait until we were reunited with the family. It was very hard at first when we broke apart, but the last three months have been so good for the two of us. Just the fact that Carlisle believed me in enough control to leave me with just Edward made me so happy. I could see why they found it so hard to disappoint him. Carlisle truly was the epitome of a father. He was knowledgeable and trusting, caring and commanding. He was the true head of the house.

The day Carlisle brought us together to say that the family needed some vacation time, my heart sank. I really didn't think that I could handle being away from them for more than a few days. This was one of the few times that I was more than happy to be wrong. The family had gone off on separate trips. We would be staying at the house. I had been so sad for the first few days, but once I got used to the quiet freedom I realized how liberating it was. Edward and I were practically inseparable after that.

There really wasn't anything I wanted to do outside the house, not with my sisters gone anyway. We would go hunting twice a week 'Just in case.' Edward would say. He would tell me often how well I was doing, not only with controlling my thirst, but also with all the little changes that had taken place in my life.

It seems that I found yet another way to be different. Edward had once told me that from the time of his change he had just had the ability to read the minds of those around him. Alice and Jasper had said that they couldn't remember a time when they didn't have their abilities. I on the other hand had a strange and slowly appearing ability.

We found one day, by accident, that I could cause destruction without even trying. Needless to say, I scared myself to pieces. I was in the middle of a debate with Jasper, not unusual in the least, when I found myself getting uncontrollably mad. Jasper was plainly not listening to a word I was saying. He thought that just because he had been on this planet for a hundred and fifty years that he knew better than me.

I could feel my anger rising, Jasper was getting heated too, so he was too distracted to try and calm me. Edward and Emmett had their usual seats just watching the action. I had won quite a few debates with Jasper. He always said that he enjoyed them so much because I always had a unique way of looking at things, which is the only reason I ever won. The guys liked to watch to see who would crack first, but this debate was just stupid. There really was no reason for me to get so mad.

I could feel my whole body shaking with my aggravation, I was livid. I finally got tired of saying the same thing over and over and him not hearing me. Before I knew what I was doing I yelled at the top of my lungs for Jasper to shut up. I only dimly registered that the boys all shot their hands to their ears. They all dropped to the floor looking up at me with pain in their eyes.

I thought it was just me shaking, until the books started to fall off the shelves. The next thing I knew I was pinned to the floor by Edward. He was caressing my hair and face while whispering soothing words into my ear. It took me a minute to calm down. Then I went completely limp and the house stopped shaking too.

I opened my eyes to find myself on Edward's lap on the couch. His arms were wrapped around me protectively. I looked around to find the whole family sitting in the living room watching me. I quickly shut my eyes again and buried my head in Edward's chest. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Bella?" Carlisle said softly. "Bella, can you tell us what just happened?"

I took a moment to think. I really wasn't sure. I don't even know why I got so mad in the first place. I looked to Jasper and Emmett. They looked just as puzzled as everyone else. What had I done? I looked back at Carlisle. His eyes were filled with compassion. I looked down at my hands. I could not look into the eyes of my love. I didn't want to see what I was sure would be there, worry.

"I don't know ... we were debating, like always." I shot a quick look at Jasper who smiled at me. That gave me a little courage and I half smiled back. "It was all so stupid though. He said that the customer is always right. I scoffed and he asked me why. I told him that that was a load of bull. The customer is never right. They only think they are because the consumers want to appease them so that they continue to be patrons. His whole argument was that it was good business."

I looked back at Jasper really quickly then back to Carlisle. "I said it filled people's heads with the wrong idea. The customer hardly ever knows what they actually want. That is why there are specialists. Those are the people that are always right. But Jasper kept saying that it would be bad business to point out the customers true flaws."

"I couldn't get him to listen to me. Before I knew it I was yelling and shaking. I didn't realize it wasn't just me until the books started to fall. Then Edward calmed me down."

I looked back up at Carlisle. He had a calculating look on his face. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently. "It will be alright, I promise. Now would you please come with me? I think we need to have a little chat." I knew I didn't really have a choice. He would have to figure this out if we were going to have any luck at keeping this from the Volturi.

I nodded my head as Carlisle dropped my hand and got up. I turned and looked into the eyes of my love. He was very worried. I got up off of his lap hesitantly. I then took his hand in mine. "Would you come with me please?" He tried to smile to show his support. He then got up and walked with me to Carlisle's office.

When we entered we took separate chairs facing Carlisle's desk. Carlisle was riffling through his huge library. He seemed to finally find the book that he was looking for. He then took his seat and looked from Edward to me. I was not sure how bad this was going to be. I didn't like the quick flash of sheer panic that flashed across my love's face.

"Bella, I realize that there is still much that you do not know about our world." His eyes flashed to Edward again and then back to mine. I am sure he knew it was because Edward was still apprehensive to share the darker aspects of our world with me. I too looked to Edward only to find him staring intently at Carlisle. He was not liking whatever he was hearing in Carlisle's thoughts. I nodded and Carlisle continued.

"This is a book that I have had for many years. I do not know who wrote it. I do not know if anyone knows who wrote it. But it contains a list of the more powerful vampires throughout time, and their powers." That definitely had me interested. But what did it have to do with me?

"I can see the confusion in your eyes. I believe this has much to do with you." Carlisle said as he opened the book. "Unfortunately, if I am correct on the direction of your power, then you will once again be a number one goal for the Volturi." Edward stiffened completely. He did not like me knowing things that he thought would worry or frighten me. The rest of the family was not so protective. They would tell me what they thought I had a right to know. I grabbed Edward's hand and squeezed it. He looked at me for the first time since we sat down.

"Edward, I have no clue what you are hearing, but you are not really helping the situation. I need you to calm down please. I need you here with me right now." I pleaded.

His eyes turned immediately shameful. In the blink of an eye I was on his lap again and he was holding me tightly. Carlisle went back to perusing his book, waiting patiently.

"I am sorry, my love. I try, you know I would do anything for you. I was just taken by what was to come out of his mouth next." He looked to Carlisle quickly then back to me. He then sighed and took my face in his hands and kissed me. It was one of those 'world is coming to an end' kisses. It truly scared me more than anything that I had heard thus far. I clung to him when he ended the kiss. I was suddenly afraid that if I let him go I would lose him again.

Carlisle then started to speak again so I turned in Edward's lap so I could face him. "Bella, first of all we need to establish if that was truly the first time you have used your power? I realize that sounds weird, but I need you to think hard. Try to think of anytime you were angry or frustrated and something odd happened."

I closed my eyes and tried to think of anything that could help them. I got nothing. I looked back to Carlisle and nodded my head yes. I then felt Edward squeeze me tighter. I looked up at him in panic and he loosened his grip as he kissed my forehead.

"Bella, I realize that this is probably a bit frightening to you. But it must be said. I believe we have only just seen a glimpse of your power." Carlisle stated. "We may need to do some tests to see what the extent truly is. In my knowledge, powers usually come at once; however, they take time to establish full strength."

My eyes went wide and I gaped at Carlisle. He could not be serious. "You mean worse things could happen in the future? I could end up hurting someone I love?"

"I am sorry, but yes, I do believe that that is a definite possibility." He thumbed through the book in front of him in silent concentration.

I had nothing to say to this. I was sure that had I still been human I would have fainted. I stood up and walked to the window. As I looked out on the forest that surrounded our house I wished I could cry. As I watched the sky clouds rolled in and it started to rain, hard. I began to wonder if I could be responsible for the current downpour. That was silly; it always rained here, right? Edward soon got up and wrapped his arms around my waist. I held on to his forearms for support.

"Bella, I am sure you realize that we need to see just what you can do. I don't want to overwhelm you. However, it is for the good of the family that we know the extent of your power." Carlisle said with certainty. I grasped even harder on Edward's arm as I watched the wind outside pick up.

"I understand Carlisle. When should we start?"

"There is no time like the present." He said with a vague smile. "How about you stop the storm you just started?"

"Are you sure it was me?" I asked quickly, eyes wide.

"Yes Alice was telling Emmett just yesterday that it won't rain for a week. He was bored and wanted to play some baseball." Carlisle smiled a little wider.

I turned back to the window and tried to focus on stopping the rain. Nothing was happening. I looked back to Carlisle to see if he had any ideas.

"Bella, stop trying, you need confidence, what were you thinking before it started to rain?" Carlisle asked

"I was thinking that I wished I could cry." I admitted, Edward put his arms around me again and kissed the side of my neck.

"Do you still feel that way?" Carlisle questioned

"Kind of, not as much though, why? What are you thinking?" I asked as a calculating look came into his eyes again. All of the sudden Edward was kissing me. I completely forgot where we were and threw myself into the kiss fully. I stopped as a glitter shone through my closed eyelids. I opened my eyes to see that we were both glittering in the sun that was now streaming through the window. I looked over at Carlisle who had a huge smile plastered on his face.

"I agree." Edward said to Carlisle.

"You agree with what?" I asked hoping they would stop having private conversations with me in the room.

"That was an easy way to take away the pain of the moment. I realize that that will not always work, but it is nice to know that I still have such a positive affect on you." Edward answered me.

"Edward..." I reached up to stroke his cheek. "You will always have that affect on me. You always have." I then turned back to Carlisle. "So how do I learn to control this? It is obviously tied to my emotions."

"There goes the neighborhood." We heard Emmett call from downstairs.

"Shut up Emmett!" Edward yelled at him. He never appreciated Emmett's lightening of serious situations. I on the other hand was grateful for it. I needed his wit now.

"Well, you will definitely need to work with Jasper on keeping control of your emotions. It will be hard and you will have to keep constant control of yourself. However, it will be manageable." Carlisle gave me another wary smile.

"Don't worry, my love." Edward said as he sat us back in the chair. "You have the whole family here to help you. We will not leave you to figure this out for yourself."

For the next seven months I would have daily sessions with Jasper to learn to control my emotions. It was a very daunting task. Jasper was a great teacher though, very patient. Then four times a week Carlisle, Edward, and varying members of the family would take me out to the forest or our newly found baseball field; in order to try to teach me how to control my ever growing powers. Edward was my moral support, but Emmett was my sanity. He helped me to stay loose when I would get frustrated.

Alice on the other hand was never any help. She was always so bubbly that she would distract me. I once caused a rift in the ground between her and Carlisle. I was so mortified that once Edward was able to calm me down and I fixed the rift Carlisle said that she was banned from the "practice sessions" as Carlisle had dubbed them.

She walked away quite dejectedly. I ran home as soon as I was done and apologized for getting her in trouble. She told me that it was her own fault. She had seen that she would get in trouble if she had gone with us, but she couldn't stop herself from being there to see what would actually happen and why she got in trouble. I giggled with her as she explained this.

It had been a very grueling time of trial and error, more error than trial. I caused much damage to the baseball clearing and caused sun when the reports called for rain. I was getting the hang of it though. We all knew that it would take time to be able to control it fully, but we had plenty of that. The most important thing was to have it under control should we get any unwanted visitors.

I really was very happy when Carlisle said that he believed me capable of being alone with Edward for so long. I still knew I would miss the family. Now we were on our way to meet them at the airport. They were finally coming home. I was bouncing with joy the closer we got to the gate. We had gotten there ten minutes early. Alice had called and said that the plane was early and we made sure to get there before it touched down.

I really don't know how they did it. Somehow they had all managed to synchronize their flights so that they all met up in New York before taking their final flights to Alaska. I breathed a sigh of relief as I saw Emmett's huge mass part the crowd straight for us. I smiled and laughed as he picked me up into a bear hug in one arm and Edward in the other. Alice then pulled me to her as Jasper and Carlisle talked to Edward.

"I see you didn't cause any havoc while we were away." Emmett said as he ruffled my hair. Edward sent him a warning growl and he shot his arms up in surrender. I giggled as Esme came over and gave me a loving motherly hug.

"How have you been my dear?" She asked conversationally.

"Great." I stated throwing Edward a huge grin.

"How was Paris?" I asked her.

"Wonderful, we really had not been in so long. I can not wait till you go. You will see, it is just so magical there." She looked up at Carlisle dreamily as he made his way to us.

"Did you enjoy your solitude?" Carlisle asked as he gave me a hug.

"Yes, thank you." I said back.

Jasper then came over with Alice in tow. "I got something for you." He said as he handed me a small bag.

"You really didn't have to do that Jasper. I am just so glad that you are all back home."

"Please, just open it. I saw it and thought you might need it. I really am glad to be back as well. We missed you." He gave me another hug and I saw Alice's eyes light up. I was just as glad as her that I was able to have this kind of relationship with Jasper now. We had both missed out on so much.

"Are you going to open it?" Rosalie asked as she gave me a hug.

"Definitely," I said as I opened the bag. I pulled out a large book. It looked like a college textbook. I read the cover and threw it at Jasper. He caught it chuckeling lightly and handed it to Alice.

"I told you she wouldn't appreciate it. You wasted a whole afternoon on the NYC campus for nothing." She said laughing.

Emmett pulled the book from Alice's hand and read the cover aloud. "Debating the Non-Debatable" He snickered and handed it to Edward. "That was wrong man." But he was laughing too.

They had all gotten it into their heads that it was actually my debating that had brought out my power. They said that nothing else I did during the day would trigger It so It would have lain dormant had I not been so keen to show up Jasper every once in a while. Edward smacked Jasper on the back of the head and put his arm around my waist as he chuckled lightly and started to walk us towards baggage claim. We grabbed all of their bags and put them in the back of the cars. Esme and Carlisle had driven the Mercedes to the airport and left it while they were gone. I got into the passenger seat of the Volvo as Alice slid into the drivers seat. Rosalie and Esme joined us and Alice started the engine.

"What do you think you are doing?" Edward said as he tapped on the driver's side window.

"We are going home. See you boys there." Alice said as she backed the car out of the space and drove away leaving Edward looking quite mad.

"That wasn't very nice." I said as I tried to hide my smile.

"I am sorry but he has had you all to himself for three months now. He can spare you for a couple of hours."

We talked the whole way home. They told me all about their trips and all the shopping they did. I had missed them so much while they were gone that I was quite content to just sit back and listen to their stories. We beat the boys back home and quickly ran up to Esme and Carlisle's room. Rosalie had grabbed a bag from the trunk before following us. She pulled out a beautiful dress she said that she had bought for me for tonight. I hugged her tightly and Alice ran to her room to get me some shoes to go with it.

When she came back she had a beautiful pair of silver heels in her hands that looked like they matched the silver trim and straps of the deep blue dress perfectly. I gave them each a hug and they started getting me ready for tonight. I sat silently, dreaming of how I wanted the night to go. It was our one year anniversary. I was so excited. We were going to go down to Anchorage, where Edward said that he had a couple things planned. After they finished curling and styling my hair they gave me a little makeup. Then they told me to put the dress on. I did and noticed immediately that Rosalie was just as good at shopping for me as Alice was. I put on the shoes and hugged them each once more. I was so happy that I was sure I was driving Jasper batty.

There was a quiet knock on the door and Jasper entered. His eyes grew wide when he saw me and I immediately dropped my head. "You look beautiful, Bella. Let me know if my brother says any different." He gave me a hug and a kiss on the forehead. Alice giggled and I turned to leave the room. We had to go if we were going to make it on time. I turned again at the door and thanked them again. They all smiled as Esme said it was nothing. I walked down the stairs to my waiting husband.

The look in Edward's eyes would have made me blush had I still been human. It was pure lust and desire. He walked slowly to the bottom of the stairs as I continued my decent. He looked just as stunning in his gorgeous new suit. It was a deep dark blue that almost looked black. I loved the way his skin looked back-dropped by the dark color.

"It is moments like this that I wish I could keep you here, all to myself." His velvety voice was husky and sexy. I almost wished we didn't have plans. He slid his hand up my arm and held the back of my neck. He pulled my face up to his. I shivered in the fraction of a second it took for our lips to find one another. When he pulled away he did so unwillingly. I loved having that affect on him, especially since he did that to me all the time.

"We have to go." He said as he wrapped his arm around my waist and walked me to the Volvo. We slid in and he started back to the city.

"So what have you got planned?" I asked as he held my hand and I traced the lines on the back of his.

"Nothing much, just thought you might like to go to the theater and maybe walk along the shore."

"The theater? Aren't we overdressed for the theater?"

"No, silly Bella; I mean the actual theater. We are going to see Cats."

"Are you serious?" I nearly shrieked.

"Yes, my God, I didn't think you would be that happy." He smiled as he started to slow as we reached the city limits. We pulled up to the Historic Anchorage Theater. A valet opened my door for me and gave me his hand to help me out. I took a step away from the car and waited politely for Edward. He came to me and wrapped his arm back around my waist. We walked in the doors and up to the box office.

"May I help you?" The lady behind the counter asked.

"Tickets for Cullen please," Edward said politely.

"Just one moment sir." She checked the computer for something then printed out two tickets. She handed them to Edward and told us to enjoy the show.

Edward led us to a set of stairs and up to the private balconies. I stepped in as he held the curtain back for me. As I took my seat I looked around the theater. It really was such a beautiful building. I was just about to turn and tell Edward how much I appreciated all of this when he turned to me at the same time looking like he was about to say something also. We both stopped then after a second we both started to laugh.

"What were you going to say?" He asked with my favorite crooked grin on his face.

"I just wanted to thank you. This is so beautiful, and I have always wanted to see this play."

"You are more than welcome. I am glad that you are so happy. I wanted today to be special for you. You have had a hard year. I wanted to make sure that you knew that I love you and I am so proud of all that you have accomplished."

I was sure that had I been human I would have been crying by now. What with the words he spoke and the true sincerity in his voice. I reached over and crushed my lips to his greedily. I loved this man so much. He had given and taught me so much. I was sure that we were put on this planet to find each other. We really were fortunate that we had. I thanked my lucky stars that I was me. I would never fantasize about being someone else as long as I existed.


End file.
